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Distinct Processing of Selection and Execution Errors in Neural Signatures of Outcome Monitoring

View ORCID ProfileFaisal Mushtaq, View ORCID ProfileSamuel D. McDougle, View ORCID ProfileMatt P. Craddock, View ORCID ProfileDarius E. Parvin, Jack Brookes, View ORCID ProfileAlexandre Schaefer, View ORCID ProfileMark Mon-Williams, View ORCID ProfileJordan A. Taylor, View ORCID ProfileRichard B. Ivry
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/853317
Faisal Mushtaq
1School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: f.mushtaq@leeds.ac.uk
Samuel D. McDougle
2Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Matt P. Craddock
3School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
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Darius E. Parvin
2Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
4Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Jack Brookes
1School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Alexandre Schaefer
5Department of Psychology, Monash University, Malaysia Campus
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Mark Mon-Williams
1School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Jordan A. Taylor
6Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
7Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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Richard B. Ivry
2Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
4Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Abstract

Losing a point playing tennis may result from poor shot selection or poor stroke execution. To explore how the brain responds to these different types of errors, we examined EEG signatures of feedback-related processing while participants performed a simple decision-making task. In Experiment 1, we used a task in which unrewarded outcomes were framed as selection errors, similar to how feedback information is treated in most studies. Consistent with previous work, EEG differences between rewarded and unrewarded trials in the medial frontal negativity (MFN) correlated with behavioral adjustment. In Experiment 2, the task was modified such that unrewarded outcomes could arise from either poor execution or selection. For selection errors, the results replicated that observed in Experiment 1. However, unrewarded outcomes attributed to poor execution produced larger amplitude MFN, alongside an attenuation in activity preceding this component and a subsequent enhanced error positivity (Pe) response in posterior sites. In terms of behavioral correlates, only the degree of the early attenuation and amplitude of the Pe correlated with behavioral adjustment following execution errors relative to reward; the amplitude of the MFN did not correlate with behavioral changes related to execution errors. These results indicate the existence of distinct neural correlates of selection and execution error processing and are consistent with the hypothesis that execution errors can modulate action selection evaluation. More generally, they provide insight into how the brain responds to different classes of error that determine future action.

Significance Statement To learn from mistakes, we must resolve whether decisions that fail to produce rewards are due to poorly selected action plans or badly executed movements. EEG data were obtained to identify and compare the physiological correlates of selection and execution errors, and how these are related to behavioral changes. A neural signature associated with reinforcement learning, a medial frontal negative (MFN) ERP deflection, correlated with behavioral adjustment after selection errors relative to reward outcomes, but not motor execution errors. In contrast, activity preceding and following the MFN response correlated with behavioral adjustment after execution errors relative to reward. These results provide novel insight into how the brain responds to different classes of error that determine future action.

Footnotes

  • Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted November 25, 2019.
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Distinct Processing of Selection and Execution Errors in Neural Signatures of Outcome Monitoring
Faisal Mushtaq, Samuel D. McDougle, Matt P. Craddock, Darius E. Parvin, Jack Brookes, Alexandre Schaefer, Mark Mon-Williams, Jordan A. Taylor, Richard B. Ivry
bioRxiv 853317; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/853317
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Distinct Processing of Selection and Execution Errors in Neural Signatures of Outcome Monitoring
Faisal Mushtaq, Samuel D. McDougle, Matt P. Craddock, Darius E. Parvin, Jack Brookes, Alexandre Schaefer, Mark Mon-Williams, Jordan A. Taylor, Richard B. Ivry
bioRxiv 853317; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/853317

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