The Impact of Context Variables on Error Monitoring

When participants make an erroneous response in a choice reaction time task, an error-related negativity (ERN), peaking at about 100 ms after the erroneous response, has been described. Source localization studies suggest that the ERN is generated in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Consistent with these findings, experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) frequently showed an increased activation for error trials in the ACC and the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). Affective and motivational factors have been proposed to modulate ERN amplitude and/or latency, i.e., emotional reacti…