[in Japanese]

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A growing area of research within psychophysiology concerns the error-related negativity (ERN), an eventrelated potential component that was first observed independently by the Illinois and the Dortmund groups about fifteen years ago. Since then, evidence has accumulated that the ERN represents action monitoring processes executed presumably by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). In this review paper, we discuss the functional significance of the processes reflected by the ERN in action monitoring. We first introduce fundamental aspects of the ERN, including its morphological characteristics, the tasks in which it has been observed, models of its neural generator, findings concerning the involvement of attention, and the relation between the ERN and the continuous vs. discrete nature of error. We discuss the ERN elicited by external feedback signals in light of its independence of motor responses and its relationship to negative affect. We focus on the error-vs. conflict-detection contro-versy, discussing recent reports addressing this issue. Because proponents of the error-detection and the conflictdetection theories have each reported convincing findings in support of their views, the controversy is not yet settled. We suggest that one reason for the difficulty in resolving the controversy is that theories and models have not specified in sufficient detail how error-detection and conflict-detection are conceptually distinct. In the final part of this paper, we introduce latest findings of the ERN and speculate on future research in this area. (Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology, 22 (1) : 3-18, 2004.)

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Goal-directed behavior requires continuous action or performance monitoring. Good performance is reinforced; deviations from the goals, i.e., errors call for remedial actions or strategy adjustments. Recently, the existence of the error-related brain system has been inferred from the error-related negativity (ERN), components of the event-related potential (ERP) elicited following error commission in reaction time task (response-ERN) or following the presentation of error feedback (feedback-ERN)
To examine the function of feedback-ERN, we performed an experiment in which three within-participant factors were manipulated; gain/loss value accompanied with participants' response, uncertainty of prediction, and content of feedback. The amplitudes of feedback-ERN were consistently larger in an error feedback condition, especially in a low uncertainty condition; this effect varied with reward magnitude. That is, the amplitude of feedback-ERN was maximal when participants expected higher reward but received error feedback. Moreover, significant positive correlation was found between the amplitudes of feedback-ERN and the rate of response switching in the following trial. This result suggests that the feedback-ERN may reflect response selection based on reward-prediction error. (Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology, 22 (1) : 19-32, 2004.)

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The error-related negativity (ERN) has been recognized as a component of the event-related potentials associated with making errors. The ERN generator is estimated to be in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). ACC is also activated by conflict during the response competition. Then, ERN might be affected by the response competition. In the present study, variations of ERN were examined in different degrees of the response competition. Nine participants performed a modified Eriksen flankers task which had two conditions (high and low response competition conditions). In the low condition, a cue stimulus was presented to reduce response competition. EEG and EMG were recorded. EEGs were averaged at EMG onset to obtain ERN. The peak latency of ERN in the low condition was significantly longer than that in the high condition. There was no significant difference in the ERN amplitude between the two conditions. These results indicate that ERN is affected by the degrees of response competition. (Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology, 22 (1) : 33-41, 2004.)

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This study focused on the psychophysiological processes of response inhibition and error processing in children with attention deficit and hyper-activity disorder (AD/HD). The NOGO potential and the error-related negativity (ERN) were recorded during a continuous performance task in 17 AD/HD children, 8 normal children, and 13 adults. In both AD/HD and normal children, the NOGO potential had larger amplitudes and longer latencies than in adults, indicating that AD/HD may result from an immature regulation of behavior rather than from a deficiency in central inhibitory function. The NOGO potential also showed a linear shortening of latency with age, suggesting that the development of inhibitory function depends on maturation of the prefrontal lobe. The ERN in one AD/HD child with a high rate of false alarms showed a prolonged latency, suggesting a slower regulation of behavior. Another AD/HD child with a low target hit rate, exhibited a ERN delay after incorrect response. This last observation indicates that AD/HD of an inattention type may have problems with sustaining their attention during certain cognitive processes, such as error processing. (Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology, 22 (1) : 43-55, 2004.)

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According to schema theory, the recognition of an error situation is an important event that can change behavior or thought. There are, however, large individual differences in the recognition of error. In this paper, focusing on recognition of erroneous behavior, we discuss individual differences involved in the information processing which leads to error recognition by referencing data on error-related negativity (ERN). We discuss the relationship between personality traits and ERN amplitude. This is followed by a discussion of the relationship between the ERN amplitude and the flexibility to error which is largely influenced by education. Finally, we discuss a hypothesis on the relationship between emotional and cognitional aspects which are reflected in the ERN, as well as some of the issues that arise based on schema theory. (Japanese Journal of Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology, 22 (1) : 57-69, 2004.)

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