Error-Related Negativity (ERN) as a Neural Сorrelate of Executive Functions: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Executive functions are a set of high-level cognitive processes that regulate human behavior and cognition, and are necessary for adaptive and goal-directed behavior. The error monitoring process can be considered as a condition preceding the enhancement or activation of executive control. The neural correlate of this condition is the error-related negativity (ERN). This article presents a narrative review of research investigating cognitive and affective aspects of the error monitoring process in the context of executive functions using the ERN. The literature review on the affective aspect revealed a diversity of approaches to influencing the state of participants. Most works take into account information about participants' state or affectively salient aspects of stimuli perception. However, this information may not be sufficient to establish a link to the response to conflict induced by an error in an experimental task. Presumably, the general emotional state has only an indirect influence on the error monitoring process. This may be the reason for the inconsistent results observed in this area of research.