Cortical topography of event-related potentials to winning and losing in a video tennis game

Abstract

The event-related potentials (ERP) in frontal and posterior associative cortex in right and left hemispheres were studied in two different outcomes of a television tennis game. These outcomes were 'win' and 'loss' of the ball, the first serving as a model of positive, the second as a model of negative emotional reactions. The ERPs consisted of 4 waves: P300, N600, P800, N1000. The most characteristic interhemispheric difference for 'win' was an increase of N600 in the left posterior associative cortex, and for 'loss', a decrease of P800 in the right frontal area. Thus, the positive and negative emotional reactions have specific spatio-temporal cortical organizations. The topography of ERP related to positive and negative emotions was disturbed in depressive patients. The patients revealed a larger negativity of the right posterior associative cortex and the left frontal cortex waves both at winning and losing the ball.