An aware error is a salient event: the anterior insula assigns salience to aware errors through interoceptive mechanisms
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1
Ghent University, Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Belgium
Background: To adequately respond to environmental demands, it is crucial to consciously detect the occurrence of errors (Ullsperger et al., 2010). The error positivity (Pe) has been linked to error awareness. Because errors usually signal the need for a change in behavior, they are deemed salient events. Accordingly, the salience network and more specifically the anterior insula (AI) is thought to underlie error awareness (Klein et al., 2013). The AI is also involved in interoceptive awareness (Critchley et al., 2004), suggesting that processing of autonomic bodily signals during error commission might significantly contribute to error awareness. Here, we investigated whether error awareness is associated with AI activity. We predicted the Pe to appear only after aware errors and to be related to AI activity. Additionally, we tested whether interoceptive awareness supports the emergence of error awareness and the Pe, as hypothesized before (Ullsperger et al., 2010). We expected the Pe amplitude to be dependent upon the extent of interoceptive awareness.
Methods: High-density EEG was recorded while 21 adult participants completed a speeded Go/No-Go task, in which they were instructed to press an error-signaling button when they became aware of error commission. This enabled us to contrast aware and unaware errors. A heartbeat perception task was administered to assess interoceptive awareness (Pollatos et al., 2007). sLORETA was used to source localize the Pe.
Results: Replicating earlier findings (Dhar et al., 2011), the Pe was generated after aware errors exclusively, with generators located in the AI. Moreover, participants who were more proficient at the heartbeat perception task showed larger Pe amplitudes to aware errors.
Conclusions: These findings bolster the idea that interoceptive awareness contributes to error awareness, via modulations of the AI during the Pe. This mechanism could explain why aware errors are processed and perceived as salient events.
Keywords:
EEG,
salience,
error awareness,
Pe,
Interoceptive Awareness
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Cognition and Executive Processes
Citation:
Godefroid
E,
Pourtois
G and
Wiersema
J
(2015). An aware error is a salient event: the anterior insula assigns salience to aware errors through interoceptive mechanisms.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00197
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
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Correspondence:
Mrs. Elke Godefroid, Ghent University, Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent, Belgium, Elke.Godefroid@UGent.be