Cognitive Role of Medial PFC in Error Processing: Lessons Learned from Healthy Children and Pediatric OCD, Anxiety, and ASD.

Abstract

Although the tendency to err may be considered to be an unavoidable human quality, the ability to effectively acknowledge and to make up for previous mistakes during task execution varies from one person to the next. Error-processing is a key neurocognitive mechanism that conveys the ability to detect errors and also gives rise to a series of compensatory mechanisms meant to adapt behavior and correct for previous mistakes. As part of this dissertation, I will present data supporting the use of the error-related negativity (or ERN) and other error-related ERPs, as endophenotypes for the study of obsessive-compulsive behavior (OCD), anxiety, and autism.