Predictive information processing in the brain: errors and response monitoring

The monitoring of one's own actions is essential for adjusting behavior. In particular, response errors are important events that require behavioral adjustments. Correct and incorrect responses, as well as feedback to responses, are followed by brain activity originating mainly in the anterior cingulate, which can be measured with fMRI and event-related potential (ERP) techniques. After each response a small negativity (Nc or CRN) is elicited in the ERP, which is strongly enhanced in incorrect trials (Ne or ERN). Following feedback stimuli that signal a negative outcome of an action, a similar negativity, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) is elicited. Recently it has been shown that these neurophysiological correlates of response monitoring and evaluation can be classified even on the single-trial level in the EEG and thus could be utilized not only to distinguish between correct and erroneous actions, but also can be used online for a wide range of applications such as prediction of clinical outcomes or brain computer interfaces.