Errors during a reaction-time task were associated with larger skin conductance responses and heart rate deceleration, while Pe and SCR were significantly correlated with post-error slowing.
Observational
The error-related positivity (Pe) brain potential and skin conductance responses are correlated with post-error compensatory behavior, suggesting a link between conscious error processing, autonomic arousal, and behavioral adjustment.
A two-component event-related brain potential consisting of an error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) and positivity (Pe) has been associated with response monitoring and error detection. Both the ERN and Pe have been source-localized to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)--a frontal structure implicated in both cognitive and affective processing, as well as autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation. The current study sought to examine the relationships among the ERN, the Pe, two autonomic measures, and behavior. Electroencephalogram (EEG), heart rate (HR), and skin conductance (SC) were recorded while subjects performed a two-choice reaction-time task. In addition to the characteristic ERN-Pe complex, errors were associated with larger SCRs and greater HR deceleration. The ERN correlated with the number of errors, but was unrelated to ANS activity and compensatory behavior. Pe, on the other hand, was correlated significantly with SCR, and both SCR and Pe were significantly correlated with post-error slowing.
Hajcak et al. (Thu,) reported a observational. Errors during a reaction-time task were associated with larger skin conductance responses and heart rate deceleration, while Pe and SCR were significantly correlated with post-error slowing.