Errors and surprise in patients with focal brain lesions

Abstract

Recent theories of performance monitoring suggest that not only errors and negative action outcomes but also valence-free expectancy violations can trigger cognitive and behavioral adaptations. EEG and fMRI evidence suggests that monitoring of both errors and surprising but valence-free action outcomes engange overlapping brain networks connected to the posterior medial frontal cortex. I will present data from patients with focal lesions in the lateral frontal cortex, striatum, thalamus, and with diffuse frontal white matter lesions that demonstrate the necessity of these brain regions for the detection of errors and motivationally salient expectancy violations as reflected in reduced error-related negativity, N2/P3a complex and adaptive motor inhibition. The data support the notion that post-error and post-surprise slowing are part of the orienting response to unexpected motivationally salient events. They furthermore elucidate the interplay of the networks involved in performance monitoring and motor inhibition.