Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Jan 15;35(1):265-72. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.11.022. Epub 2010 Nov 24.
Enhanced error-related negativity (ERN) has been associated with anxiety among both non-clinical and clinical populations. However, whether it is abnormal among adult patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is still unknown. The present study investigated it across GAD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Event related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from a group of 27 GAD patients, 25 OCD patients and 27 healthy control participants during a modified Erikson Flankers task. ERP difference waveforms were obtained by subtracting ERP to correct response (CRN) from ERP to error response (ERN). The Ne component of ERPs at medial frontal electrodes were analyzed and reported. The Ne component of ERP difference waveform was enhanced only in OCD patients, but not in GAD patients, as compared to the healthy controls. An exploratory analysis also revealed higher Ne amplitude of error trial waveforms in both GAD and OCD patients than in healthy controls, and an insignificant group difference in Ne component of correct trial waveforms. The Ne amplitude of error trial waveforms also correlated with Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) scores and with Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores across the three subject groups. The main findings of the present study suggest that error processing is altered in OCD but not in GAD, and that ERN abnormalities in GAD are possibly associated with an overactive response checking process or excessive response monitoring.
增强的错误相关负向波（ERN）与非临床和临床人群中的焦虑有关。然而，广泛性焦虑障碍（GAD）成年患者中是否存在异常仍不清楚。本研究在 GAD 和强迫症（OCD）患者中对此进行了研究。在一项改良的埃里克森侧翼任务中，从 27 名 GAD 患者、25 名 OCD 患者和 27 名健康对照组中记录了事件相关脑电位（ERPs）。通过从正确反应（CRN）的 ERP 中减去错误反应（ERN）的 ERP，获得 ERP 差异波形。分析并报告了额中电极处 ERP 的 Ne 成分。与健康对照组相比，仅在 OCD 患者中，而不是在 GAD 患者中，ERP 差异波形的 Ne 成分增强。探索性分析还显示，与健康对照组相比，GAD 和 OCD 患者的错误试验波的 Ne 振幅更高，而正确试验波的 Ne 成分无显著组间差异。错误试验波的 Ne 振幅也与三个研究组的汉密尔顿焦虑量表（HAMA）评分和汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD）评分相关。本研究的主要发现表明，错误处理在 OCD 中发生改变，但在 GAD 中没有改变，并且 GAD 中的 ERN 异常可能与过度的反应检查过程或过度的反应监测有关。
