Distinct Neural Signatures of Outcome Monitoring following Selection and Execution Errors

Losing a point in tennis could result from poor shot selection or faulty stroke execution. To explore how the brain responds to these different types of errors, we examined feedback-locked EEG activity while participants completed a modified version of a standard three-armed bandit probabilistic reward task. Our task framed unrewarded outcomes as either the result of errors of selection or errors of execution. We examined whether amplitude of the medial frontal negativity (the Feedback-Related Negativity/Reward Positivity; FRN/RewP) was sensitive to the different forms of error attribution. Consistent with previous reports, selection errors elicited a large FRN/RewP relative to rewards and amplitude of this signal correlated behavioral adjustment following these errors. A different pattern was observed in response to execution errors. These outcomes produced a larger FRN/RewP, a frontal attenuation in activity preceding this component, and a subsequent enhanced error positivity in parietal sites. Notably, the only correlations with behavioral adjustment were with the early frontal attenuation and amplitude of the parietal signal; FRN/RewP differences between execution errors and rewarded trials did not correlate with subsequent changes in behavior. Our findings highlight distinct neural correlates of selection and execution error processing, providing insight into how the brain responds to the different classes of error that determine future action.