Error Awareness Can Occur in the Absence of an Error-Related Negativity.

ABSTRACT: Errors in choice tasks lead to a cascade of error-related brain activity in event-related potentials. While the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) reflects an early error signal, the error positivity (Pe) has been attributed to the later emergence of error awareness. Previous work has shown that these two components can be dissociated using a target-masking paradigm. In this modified flanker paradigm, an invisible-target condition is realized in which errors are detectable even if the correct response is unknown. These errors have been shown to elicit a Pe without a Ne/ERN, demonstrating the independence of the two underlying systems. Here, we employed this paradigm to ask whether error awareness can emerge without a Ne/ERN. While performing the target-masking paradigm, participants provide

SUBMITTER: Dumsky J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12504923 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature