Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014;39(1):1-8.
doi: 10.1080/87565641.2013.826661.

Toddler fearfulness is linked to individual differences in error-related negativity during preschool

Rebecca J Brooker  1 , Kristin A Buss
Affiliations

Toddler fearfulness is linked to individual differences in error-related negativity during preschool

Rebecca J Brooker et al. Dev Neuropsychol. 2014.

Abstract

We investigated associations between early fearfulness and error-related negativity (ERN) in preschoolers. Children were classified as low, moderate, or high in fearfulness based on observations at age 2 years. ERN was measured at age 4.5 years. ERN was visible in preschoolers who were moderate or high in fear during toddlerhood, but was characterized differently in children based on associations with fearfulness during toddlerhood. A non-localized ERN was visible across midline electrodes in high-fear children and an adult like ERN distribution was visible in moderately fearful children. In contrast, low-fear children showed no evidence of ERN at 4.5 years of age.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Response-locked ERP waveforms at Fz, Cz, and Pz for high-fear, moderate-fear, and low-fear children. Note: X-axis presents time in milliseconds (ms). Y-axis presents amplitude in microvolts (µV). For all groups, solid lines represent neural activity on error trials; broken lines represent neural activity on correct trials. Arrows are used to highlight the ERN effect.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bachevalier J, Mishkin M. An early and a late developing system for learning retention in infant monkeys. Behavioral Neuroscience. 1984;98:770–778. - PubMed
    1. Brooker RJ, Buss KA, Dennis TA. Error-monitoring brain activity is associated with affective behaviors in young children. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 2011;1:141–152. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Buss KA. Which fearful toddlers should we worry about? Effects of context on observed fear and risk for anxiety. Developmental Psychology. 2011;47:804–819. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Casey BJ, Trainor RJ, Orendi JL, Nystrom LE, Giedd JN, Castellanos FX, Haxby JV, Noll DC, Cohen JD, Forman SD, Dahl RE, Rapoport JL. A developmental functional MRI study of prefrontal activation during performance of a Go-No-Go task. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 1997;9:835–847. - PubMed
    1. Davies PL, Segalowitz SJ, Gavin WJ. Development of error-monitoring event-related potentials in adolescents. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2004;1021:324–328. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources