School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Department of Life Sciences and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University, Be'er-Sheva, Israel.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2019 Oct;29(10):1083-1091. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.07.240. Epub 2019 Aug 8.
Well-functioning error monitoring of the inner and outer environments is essential for adaptively altering behavior, while malfunction characterizes conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The underlying brain processing is manifested as Error-Related Negativity (ERN) signal elicited following error comission, and Perceived Error Related Theta Activity (PERTA) signal elicited following detection of discrepancy in the environment. Yet, while enhanced ERN was repeatedly demonstrated in OCD patients and was found to be potentiated among their unaffected first degree relatives, no comparable observations were reported with regard to PERTA. We recorded EEG activity while OCD patients, OCD patients' siblings (Family), and healthy controls (HC) performed computerized tasks. For the examination of ERN we used the Stroop task and for the examination of PERTA we presented correct and incorrect mathematical equations. Increased ERN (0-120 ms post response) was observed in both the OCD and Family groups, but only the OCD patients' signal significantly differed from that of HC's. Similarly, modified PERTA activity was observed in both the OCD and Family groups in the N1 peak (65-125 ms post perceived error), but only for the OCD group this activity significantly differed from that of HC. Both ERN and PERTA's N1 are fast occurring peaks, which suggests that OCD is associate with a constantly over-activated detection system that monitors the inner and outer environment and reacts promptly following detection of a mistake. Furthermore, the modified but non-significantly different activity of the Family group suggests that the pathological condition evolves in vulnerable individuals with neuronal predisposition.
内外环境的正常错误监测对于适应性地改变行为至关重要，而功能失调则表现为强迫症（OCD）等病症。潜在的大脑处理表现为错误诱发的错误相关负向（ERN）信号和环境差异检测诱发的感知错误相关Theta 活动（PERTA）信号。然而，尽管 OCD 患者的 ERN 增强已被反复证明，并且在其未受影响的一级亲属中发现其增强，但对于 PERTA 则没有类似的观察结果。我们在 OCD 患者、OCD 患者的兄弟姐妹（家庭）和健康对照组（HC）执行计算机任务时记录 EEG 活动。我们使用 Stroop 任务检查 ERN，并用正确和错误的数学方程检查 PERTA。在 OCD 和家庭组中都观察到 ERN（反应后 0-120ms）增加，但只有 OCD 患者的信号与 HC 的信号明显不同。同样，在 OCD 和家庭组中，在 N1 峰（感知错误后 65-125ms）观察到 PERTA 活动的改变，但只有 OCD 组的活动与 HC 的活动明显不同。ERN 和 PERTA 的 N1 都是快速发生的峰值，这表明 OCD 与不断过度激活的检测系统有关，该系统监测内外环境，并在检测到错误后迅速反应。此外，家庭组的活动改变但不显著，这表明在具有神经元易感性的易受影响个体中，病理状况会发展。
