Distinct brain activation in response to negative feedback at different stages in a variant of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.

Positive or negative feedback is usually used to maintain or shift a sorting rule in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Previous studies have demonstrated that negative feedback evokes a larger P3 than positive feedback. However, it is unclear whether the neural response is different for negative feedback appearing at different stages of the WCST. We compared ERPs evoked by the negative feedback appearing at the rule-switching stage (switch-NF) with those appearing at the rule-learning stage (learn-NF) in a modified WCST. Results indicated that: 1) switch-NF evoked a longer N1 latency than learn-NF, 2) switch-NF evoked a delayed and larger N2 component than learn-NF, particularly at the frontal and central electrodes, 3) P3 latency was shorter and the P3 amplitude was larger in learn-NF than in switch-NF. These findings suggest that in the different stages of the WCST, negative feedback implied different involvement of attention, inhibition control, and context updating.