RUI: Physiological and Cognitive Correlates of Error-Related Alpha Suppression

Haverford College, Haverford PA

Investigators

Abstract

The ability to shift attention rapidly under highly demanding performance conditions is critical for many occupations, such as driving, aviation, military, and medical personnel. The human mind has evolved a capacity to continually self-monitor, checking ongoing performance against goals, maintaining alertness to possible errors, and rapidly adjusting attention when performance shows signs of slipping. The present research project will investigate the processes by which performance errors are detected, leading to heightened physiological arousal and adaptive changes in cognition that momentarily refocus attention on task-relevant information in the environment. Using both EEG measures of brain activity and measures of pupil diameter to quantify physiological arousal, the research will test the hypothesis that arousal elicited by performance errors leads to enhanced attention. In addition to its scientific goals, the project will strengthen the research environment in cognitive neuroscience at a highly selective liberal arts college that sends disproportionate numbers of graduates on to doctoral-level research in STEM fields. Effective control of cognitive performance depends on noticing and responding to performance errors in ways that are behaviorally adaptive. The proposed research tests a novel model of error-reactivity that focuses on error-related alpha suppression (ERAS), which refers to the reduction in EEG alpha-band activity in the inter-trial interval following an error compared to a correct response. The model posits that ERAS reflects transient arousal resulting from norepinephrine projections that ascend from the brainstem locus coerulus to activate cortical regions in response to salient events. The arousal model predicts that ERAS should covary with error-related pupil dilation, which is mediated by the norepinephrine system. In addition, based on adaptive gain theory, the model predicts that error-related arousal leads to enhanced attention to task-relevant cues, which will be measured both behaviorally and with EEG measures. Finally, using current time-frequency analysis techniques, the research will directly compare ERAS to other error-related oscillatory phenomena that are present in different EEG frequency bands (i.e., error-related theta and gamma effects). Results will provide novel information to inform theories of error-related cognitive control by detailing how performance mistakes lead to momentary arousal responses and by examining the relationship between error-related arousal and behavioral performance.