Midfrontal theta oscillations and conflict monitoring in children and adults

Abstract

Conflict monitoring is central in cognitive control, as detection of conflict serves as a signal for the need to engage control. This study examined whether (1) midfrontal theta oscillations similarly support conflict monitoring in children and adults, and (2) performance monitoring difficulty influences conflict monitoring and resolution. Children (n = 25) and adults (n = 24) completed a flanker task with fair or rigged response feedback. Relative to adults, children showed a smaller congruency effect on midfrontal theta power, overall lower midfrontal theta power and coherence, and (unlike adults) no correlation between midfrontal theta power and N2 amplitude, suggesting that reduced neural communication efficiency contributes to less efficient conflict monitoring in children than adults. In both age groups, response feedback fairness affected response times and the P3, but neither midfrontal theta oscillations nor the N2, indicating that performance monitoring difficulty influenced conflict resolution but not conflict monitoring.

EEG Dynamics of Error Processing and Associated Behavioral Adjustments in Preschool Children

“…During the first 5 y of life, children are subjected to rapid developmental changes in core cognitive functions that underlie performance monitoring and voluntary regulation of behavior (e.g., detection and correction of errors) [ 31 , 32 ]. Preschool children are less efficient than adults in monitoring and regulating their actions adaptively [ 33 , 34 ]. However, they engage the same neurocognitive control processes as adults to detect and to correct erroneous responses.…”

“…Regarding PEA, three studies [ 34 , 38 , 42 ] showed a significant correlation between ERN and PEA in children from 5- to 8-year old, which suggested a role of ERN in predicting performance recovery during childhood. Finally, no studies have been found on the link between frontal theta oscillations and post-error behavioral compensation, despite growing evidence that suggested a key role of theta oscillations in orchestrating different cognitive control demands across preschool and school ages [ 33 , 44 , 45 ].…”

Midfrontal theta is associated with errors, but no evidence for a link with error-related memory

“…For instance, when applied externally through transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), midfrontal theta modulated behavioral adjustments following errors in a Flanker task (Fusco et al, 2018). It is thought that midfrontal theta originates from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and is cognitively associated with the monitoring of the errors (Botvinick, Cohen, & Carter, 2004;Cavanagh, Cohen, & Allen, 2009;Chevalier, Hadley, & Balthrop, 2021;Cohen, 2011).…”

Posterior delta/theta EEG activity as an early signal of Stroop conflict detection

“…Midfrontal theta has been associated with the processing of cognitive conflict in various tasks, including the Stroop task (e.g., Eschmann & Mecklinger, 2021;Hanslmayr et al, 2008), the Eriksen flanker task (e.g., Chevalier et al, 2021;Cohen et al, 2008;Giller et al, 2020;Pscherer et al, 2020), the Simon task (e.g., Töllner et al, 2017;van Driel et al, 2012), and the responsepriming task (e.g., Pastötter et al, 2010Pastötter et al, , 2013. In addition, fronto-central event-related potential (ERP) negativities such as the conflict-related N2 (a negative deflection peaking around 250 to 350 ms after stimulus onset; Boenke et al, 2009) or the response-locked FRN (feedback-related negativity, peaking 80 ms before response onset) share a common spectral signature, namely midfrontal theta (Cavanagh et al, 2012;Heidlmayr et al, 2020).…”