Neuronal mechanisms of performance monitoring and adaptive control, Markus Ullsperger

Monitoring for erroneous and unexpected action outcomes is essential to determine when adaptation is needed to optimize goal achievement. First, I will give an overview of EEG and fMRI correlates of performance monitoring. Building on current theories relating performance monitoring to reinforcement learning mechanisms, I will discuss which signals are represented in a key region of performance monitoring, the posterior medial frontal cortex, and how they are weighted to determine the need for adaptation. The second part of the presentation will focus on neuronal mechanisms of post-error adjustments. In particular, I will present neuroimaging and invasive and non-invasive electrophysiological studies in humans addressing the trial-by-trial adjustments post-error slowing and post-error attentional control and their neuronal underpinnings. Showing data from a large EEG study using an online measure of decision formation, lateralized beta power over motor cortices, I will contribute to the current debate as to whether post-error slowing is adaptive or rather disruptive for subsequent performance. More information: http://neuronusforum.pl