School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; Brain & Behaviour Research Institute, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2013 Sep;89(3):390-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.06.011. Epub 2013 Jun 18.
Originally, the feedback related negativity (FRN) event-related potential (ERP) component was considered to be a robust neural correlate of non-reward/punishment processing, with greater negative deflections observed following unfavourable outcomes. More recently, it has been suggested that this component is better conceptualised as a positive deflection following rewarding outcomes. The current study sought to elucidate the nature of the FRN, as well as another component associated with incentive-value processing, the P3b, through application of a spatiotemporal principal components analysis (PCA). Seventeen healthy controls played a computer electronic gaming machine (EGM) task and received feedback on credits won or lost on each trial, and ERPs were recorded. The distribution of reward/non-reward outcomes closely matched that of a real EGM, with frequent losses, and infrequent wins and near-wins. The PCA revealed that feedback elicited both a frontally maximal negative deflection to losses, and a positive deflection to wins (which was also sensitive to reward magnitude), implying that the neural generator/s of the FRN are differentially activated following these outcomes. As expected, greater P3b amplitudes were found for wins compared to losses. Interestingly, near-wins elicited significantly smaller FRN amplitudes than losses (with no differences in P3b amplitude), and may contribute to the maintenance of gambling behaviours on EGMs. The results of the current study are integrated into a response profile of healthy controls to outcomes of varying incentive value. This may provide a foundation for the future examination of individuals who exhibit abnormalities in reward/punishment processing, such as problem gamblers.
最初，反馈相关负向波（FRN）事件相关电位（ERP）成分被认为是与非奖励/惩罚处理相关的一种稳健的神经相关物，在不利结果后观察到更大的负向偏转。最近，有人提出，这种成分更好地被概念化为奖励性结果后的正向偏转。本研究通过应用时空主成分分析（PCA）来阐明 FRN 的性质，以及与激励价值处理相关的另一个成分 P3b。17 名健康对照者玩电脑电子游戏（EGM）任务，并在每次试验中获得赢或输的反馈，同时记录 ERP。奖励/非奖励结果的分布与真实 EGM 非常匹配，经常输，很少赢，几乎赢。PCA 显示，反馈引起了损失时的额部最大负向偏转和赢时的正向偏转（对奖励大小也敏感），这意味着 FRN 的神经发生器/在这些结果后会被不同地激活。正如预期的那样，赢的 P3b 幅度大于输的 P3b 幅度。有趣的是，几乎赢的 FRN 幅度比输的小（P3b 幅度没有差异），并且可能有助于在 EGM 上维持赌博行为。本研究的结果被整合到健康对照者对不同激励价值结果的反应特征中。这可能为未来研究表现出奖励/惩罚处理异常的个体（如问题赌徒）提供基础。
