Errors are aversive: defensive motivation and the error-related negativity

Abstract

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a negative deflection in the event-related potential that is maximal approximately 50 ms after the commission of an error. The ERN is generated in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the medial prefrontal cortex implicated in both cognitive and emotional processing. Affective and motivational variables influence the magnitude of the ERN, which suggests that the ERN may relate to emotional or motivational aspects of error detection. In the present study, we evaluated the possibility that errors prime defensive motivational responses, and that the ERN may predict the magnitude of defensive reactivity after errors. We found that (a) the defensive startle response was larger following errors than following correct responses, and (b) the magnitude of the ERN predicted the degree of startle potentiation following errors. Thus, response errors prime defensive motivation-and the ERN predicts individual differences in the aversive response to errors.