The goal of the present study was to shed light on the respective contributions of three important action monitoring brain regions (i.e. cingulate cortex, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex) during the conscious detection of response errors. To this end, fourteen healthy adults performed a speeded Go/Nogo task comprising Nogo trials of varying levels of difficulty, designed to elicit aware and unaware errors. Error awareness was indicated by participants with a second key press after the target key press. Meanwhile, electromyogram (EMG) from the response hand was recorded in addition to high-density scalp electroencephalogram (EEG). In the EMG-locked grand averages, aware errors clearly elicited an error-related negativity (ERN) reflecting error detection, and a later error positivity (Pe) reflecting conscious error awareness. However, no Pe was recorded after unaware errors or hits. These results are in line with previous studies suggesting that error awareness is associated with generation of the Pe. Source localisation results confirmed that the posterior cingulate motor area was the main generator of the ERN. However, inverse solution results also point to the involvement of the left posterior insula during the time interval of the Pe, and hence error awareness. Moreover, consecutive to this insular activity, the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was activated in response to aware and unaware errors but not in response to hits, consistent with the implication of this area in the evaluation of the value of an error. These results reveal a precise sequence of activations in these three non-overlapping brain regions following error commission, enabling a progressive differentiation between aware and unaware errors as a function of time elapsed, thanks to the involvement first of interoceptive or proprioceptive processes (left insula), later leading to the detection of a breach in the prepotent response mode (right OFC).

Diminished responding to hearing the own name is one of the earliest and strongest predictors of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we studied for the first time the neural correlates of hearing one's own name in ASD. Based on existing research, we hypothesized enhancement of late parietal positive activity specifically for the own name in neurotypicals, and this effect to be reduced in adults with ASD. Source localization analyses were conducted to estimate group differences in brain regions underlying this effect. 21 adults with ASD, and 21 age-and gender-matched neurotypicals were presented with three categories of names (own name, close other, unknown other) as task-irrelevant deviant stimuli in an auditory oddball paradigm, while EEG was recorded. As expected, a late parietal positivity was observed specifically for own names in neurotypicals, indicating enhanced attention to the own name.This preferential effect was absent in the ASD group. This group difference was associated with diminished activation in the rTPJ in adults with ASD. Further, a familiarity effect was found for the N1, with larger amplitudes for familiar names (own name and close other).However, groups did not differ for this effect. These findings provide evidence of atypical neural responding to hearing one's own name in adults with ASD, suggesting a deficit in selfother distinction, associated with rTPJ dysfunction.Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; ERP; own name; TPJ General Scientific Summary: Infants at risk of ASD are known to show a diminished response to hearing their own name. By investigating the neural response to hearing their own name in adults with ASD, we showed for the first time that also in adulthood, individuals with ASD show an atypical response to hearing their name.3

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The aim of the present study was to investigate whether error detection and subsequent regulatory processes could be influenced by pre-familiarisation with task-relevant stimulus features. To this end, nineteen healthy adults performed a speeded Go/NoGo task with compound targets, involving two concurrent stimulus attributes, which were either prefamiliarised or not, while high-density EEG was recorded. During the speeded Go/NoGo task, response errors clearly elicited an error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe), but these error-related components were not modulated by familiarisation. By comparison, post-error adaptive processes were found to depend on familiarisation, as distinct topographic ERP effects were evidenced for familiarised vs. non-familiarised stimuli. Moreover, post-error slowing was abolished in the condition comprising familiarised attributes. These results suggest that prefamiliarisation with a stimulus property leaves unaffected error detection mechanisms, while altering subsequent adaptive processes. Whereas error detection mechanisms may be generic, the automatic adaptive processes consecutive to error detection may be malleable, and influenced by pre-familiarisation of stimulus features.

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