A psychophysiological inquiry into the nature of the Sokolovian orienting response comparator model: skin conductance and EEG data

Keep calm and be patient: The influence of anxiety and time on post-error adaptations

Individual differences in anxiety and punishment sensitivity have an impact on electrophysiological markers of error processing and the orienting of attention to threatening information. However, it remains unclear how these individual differences influence behavioral adaptations to errors. Therefore, we set out to investigate the influence of anxiety and punishment sensitivity on post-error adaptations, and whether this influence depends on the time people get to adapt. We tested 99 participants using a Simon task with randomized inter-trial intervals. Significant post-error slowing (PES) was found at all time intervals. However, in line with previous research, PES reduced over time. While PES did not interact with anxiety, or punishment sensitivity, the pattern of post-error accuracy depended on anxiety. There is clear post-error accuracy decrease at the shortest interval, but individuals with a low score on trait anxiety showed a reversed effect (i.e., post-error accuracy increase) at a longer interval. These results suggest that people have trouble to disengage attention from an error, which can be overcome with time and low anxiety.

The modulation of late component event related potentials by pre-stimulus EEG theta activity in ADHD

Electroencephalography (EEG) and Event Related Potentials (ERPs) studies in ADHD have generally been studied separately. This study examined these measures simultaneously in 54 adolescent unmedicated ADHD males and age and gender matched normal controls during an auditory oddball paradigm. Compared with controls, ADHD patients showed increased pre-stimulus EEG Theta activity and post-stimulus reduced N200 amplitude, increased P200 amplitude and delayed N200 and P300 latencies evoked to target stimuli. Moreover, Theta activity was negatively correlated with N200 amplitude and positively correlated with P200, N200 and P300 latency in ADHD. There were no correlations in the control group. Pre-stimulus preparatory state increases in Theta activity in ADHD may underlie some of the reported disturbances in information processing reflected in ADHD.