A dimensional investigation of error-related negativity (ERN) and self-reported psychiatric symptoms

Abstract

Alterations in error processing are implicated in a range of DSM-defined psychiatric disorders. For instance, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalised anxiety disorder show enhanced electrophysiological responses to errors—i.e. error-related negativity (ERN)—while others like schizophrenia have an attenuated ERN. However, as diagnostic categories in psychiatry are heterogeneous and also highly intercorrelated, the precise mapping of ERN enhancements/impairments is unclear. To address this, we recorded electroencephalograms (EEG) from 196 participants who performed the Flanker task and collected scores on 9 questionnaires assessing psychiatric symptoms to test if a dimensional framework could reveal specific transdiagnostic clinical manifestations of error processing dysfunctions. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found non-significant associations between ERN amplitude and symptom severity of OCD, trait anxiety, depression, social anxiety, impulsivity, eating disorders, alcohol addiction, schizotypy and apathy. A transdiagnostic approach did nothing to improve signal; there were non-significant associations between all three transdiagnostic dimensions (anxious-depression, compulsive behaviour and intrusive thought, and social withdrawal) and ERN magnitude. In these same individuals, we replicated a previously published transdiagnostic association between goal-directed learning and compulsive behaviour and intrusive thought. Possible explanations discussed are (i) that associations between the ERN and psychopathology might be smaller than previously assumed, (ii) that these associations might depend on a greater level of symptom severity than other transdiagnostic cognitive biomarkers, or (iii) that task parameters, such as the ratio of compatible to incompatible trials, might be crucial for ensuring the sensitivity of the ERN to clinical phenomena.

Model-Based Planning Deficits in Compulsivity Are Linked to Faulty Neural Representations of Task Structure

“…During the in-person EEG session, participants completed the following two tasks: the modified Eriksen flanker task ( Eriksen and Eriksen, 1974 ) and the two-step reinforcement learning task ( Daw et al, 2005 , 2011 ). Data from the former task have been published previously ( Seow et al, 2020 ), but note that we also reported the basic association with compulsivity and model-based planning in that article, which served to contextualize a null result. Once participants had completed both tasks, they completed a short IQ evaluation before debriefing.…”

“…The effect size indicated that N = 150 participants were required to achieve 90% power at 0.05 significance. Our final sample was larger than this to achieve the required power for another study that the same subjects participated in ( Seow et al, 2020 ).…”

Blunted neural response to errors prospectively predicts increased symptoms of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…Interestingly, the ERN was not significantly cross-sectionally correlated with baseline depression symptoms. While several studies have demonstrated that depression is associated with a blunted ERN (Ladouceur et al, 2012;Ruchsow et al, 2004Ruchsow et al, , 2006Schoenberg, 2014;Schrijvers et al, 2009), other studies have demonstrated an enhanced ERN in depression (Aarts et al, 2013;Chiu & Deldin, 2007;Holmes & Pizzagalli, 2008, 2010Tang et al, 2013) and others have found no such associations between the two (Bress et al, 2015;Ruchsow et al, 2004;Seow et al, 2020;Weinberg et al, 2012). Some have suggested that these inconsistencies are due in part to the diagnostic heterogeneity of depression, such that symptoms of anhedonia and psychomotor retardation more strongly relate to a blunted ERN than other depression symptoms (Olvet et al, 2010;Schrijvers et al, 2008;Weinberg, Kotov, & Proudfit, 2015;Weinberg, Liu, & Shankman, 2016).…”

Associations of neural error‐processing with symptoms and traits in a dimensional sample recruited across the obsessive–compulsive spectrum

“…An association with anxious apprehension was further supported by a study that compared groups with symptom profiles of OCD, worry, and anxiety symptoms and linked increased ERN amplitudes specifically to worry (Zambrano‐Vazquez & Allen, 2014). However, other studies failed to replicate the association between anxious apprehension and ERN (Härpfer et al, 2020; Muir et al, 2020) and it has been suggested that the anxiety‐ERN relationship might be stronger or even specific to clinical samples (Härpfer et al, 2022; Saunders & Inzlicht, 2020; Seow et al, 2020).…”