Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010 Jan 15;106(2-3):181-5. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.08.014. Epub 2009 Sep 24.
The persisting use of substances despite of adverse consequences is one of the hallmarks of addictive behaviors such as cigarette smoking. In the present study we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate one aspect of adverse consequences: responses to errors in smokers versus non-smokers. The aim of this study was to determine whether cigarette smokers display error-processing deficits as measured using error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). ERPs during an Eriksen flanker task were recorded from smokers and a non-smoking control group. Smokers showed the same ERN response as controls after making an error. However, the later Pe response was reduced as compared to the control group. On the behavioral level, we observed a trend towards increased error rates of smokers on incongruent trials. The present findings reveal that cigarette smoking is associated with reduced error processing. More specifically, while initial error processing seem intact, brain systems reflecting the motivational significance of a performance error seem compromised. It is argued that these cognitive deficits may cause or contribute to the persistence of smoking behavior and addictive behaviors in general.
尽管存在不良后果，但仍持续使用物质是吸烟等成瘾行为的特征之一。在本研究中，我们使用事件相关电位（ERP）来研究不良后果的一个方面：吸烟者和非吸烟者对错误的反应。本研究的目的是确定吸烟者是否表现出与错误相关负波（ERN）和错误正波（Pe）测量的错误处理缺陷。从吸烟者和非吸烟对照组中记录了在艾里克森侧翼任务期间的 ERP。吸烟者在犯错后表现出与对照组相同的 ERN 反应。然而，与对照组相比，后期 Pe 反应降低。在行为水平上，我们观察到吸烟者在不一致试验中错误率增加的趋势。本研究结果表明，吸烟与错误处理减少有关。更具体地说，虽然初始错误处理似乎完好无损，但反映绩效错误的动机意义的大脑系统似乎受损。有人认为，这些认知缺陷可能导致或促成吸烟行为和一般成瘾行为的持续存在。
