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Impact of frontal white matter lesions on performance monitoring: ERP evidence for cortical disconnection

Impact of frontal white matter lesions on performance monitoring: ERP evidence for cortical disconnection
Impact of frontal white matter lesions on performance monitoring: ERP evidence for cortical disconnection
We examined the impact of discrete white matter lesions in the frontal lobes on event-related potential (ERP) correlates of performance monitoring. We tested the hypothesis that abnormal performance monitoring may result from injury to white matter without evidence of injury to grey matter in the frontal lobes.
It was predicted that such lesions may result in disconnection of the lateral and medial frontal cortices. The close interaction of these two areas has been implicated in performance monitoring. Two fast-choice response tasks were administered to patients with MRI-confirmed frontal white matter lesions due to sickle cell disease (SCD) vasculopathy (n = 11; age = 11-23 years; 6 unilateral left lesions and 5 bilateral lesions) and two control groups: SCD patients without brain lesions and non-sickle cell sibling controls (n = 11 each).
Stimulus-locked ERP components N2 and P3 were not significantly affected by presence of lesions. The difference between response-locked components to correct trials (correct-response negativity--CRN) and erroneous trials (error-related negativity--ERN) was diminished in patients with unilateral and bilateral frontal white matter lesions. This finding was due to a significantly attenuated ERN amplitude in lesion patients compared with both sibling and non-lesion control groups.
These ERP findings were not due to performance differences between groups and hence reflect a compromised neural substrate underlying performance monitoring. The latter may also contribute to the deficits in executive function tasks observed in these patients. As disruption to ERP markers of error processing was found in the absence of lesions to the lateral or medial frontal cortex, we conclude that a functional connection between these areas facilitates performance monitoring, possibly implemented via tracts traversing the deep frontal white matter.
performance monitoring, white matter injury, sickle cell disease, event-related potentials, executive functions
0006-8950
2177-2188
Hogan, Alexandra M.
95ce4e2d-0f63-4ada-b43f-8f3a0c3b4a21
Vargha-Khadem, Faraneh
3093d3a3-f301-47d8-8192-4e1e8d832fed
Saunders, Dawn E.
9d877417-e3ee-493d-9477-a66b47c3455d
Kirkham, Fenella J.
1dfbc0d5-aebe-4439-9fb2-dac6503bcd58
Baldeweg, Torsten
e6ba710f-1634-48fe-84b9-84141cc2ad54
Hogan, Alexandra M.
95ce4e2d-0f63-4ada-b43f-8f3a0c3b4a21
Vargha-Khadem, Faraneh
3093d3a3-f301-47d8-8192-4e1e8d832fed
Saunders, Dawn E.
9d877417-e3ee-493d-9477-a66b47c3455d
Kirkham, Fenella J.
1dfbc0d5-aebe-4439-9fb2-dac6503bcd58
Baldeweg, Torsten
e6ba710f-1634-48fe-84b9-84141cc2ad54

Hogan, Alexandra M., Vargha-Khadem, Faraneh, Saunders, Dawn E., Kirkham, Fenella J. and Baldeweg, Torsten (2006) Impact of frontal white matter lesions on performance monitoring: ERP evidence for cortical disconnection. Brain, 129 (8), 2177-2188. (doi:10.1093/brain/awl160).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We examined the impact of discrete white matter lesions in the frontal lobes on event-related potential (ERP) correlates of performance monitoring. We tested the hypothesis that abnormal performance monitoring may result from injury to white matter without evidence of injury to grey matter in the frontal lobes.
It was predicted that such lesions may result in disconnection of the lateral and medial frontal cortices. The close interaction of these two areas has been implicated in performance monitoring. Two fast-choice response tasks were administered to patients with MRI-confirmed frontal white matter lesions due to sickle cell disease (SCD) vasculopathy (n = 11; age = 11-23 years; 6 unilateral left lesions and 5 bilateral lesions) and two control groups: SCD patients without brain lesions and non-sickle cell sibling controls (n = 11 each).
Stimulus-locked ERP components N2 and P3 were not significantly affected by presence of lesions. The difference between response-locked components to correct trials (correct-response negativity--CRN) and erroneous trials (error-related negativity--ERN) was diminished in patients with unilateral and bilateral frontal white matter lesions. This finding was due to a significantly attenuated ERN amplitude in lesion patients compared with both sibling and non-lesion control groups.
These ERP findings were not due to performance differences between groups and hence reflect a compromised neural substrate underlying performance monitoring. The latter may also contribute to the deficits in executive function tasks observed in these patients. As disruption to ERP markers of error processing was found in the absence of lesions to the lateral or medial frontal cortex, we conclude that a functional connection between these areas facilitates performance monitoring, possibly implemented via tracts traversing the deep frontal white matter.

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More information

Published date: 2006
Keywords: performance monitoring, white matter injury, sickle cell disease, event-related potentials, executive functions

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 39959
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/39959
ISSN: 0006-8950
PURE UUID: af1a0e42-4e58-4cf9-9c42-9f95b740c3b7
ORCID for Fenella J. Kirkham: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-7958

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Date deposited: 06 Jul 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:21

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Contributors

Author: Alexandra M. Hogan
Author: Faraneh Vargha-Khadem
Author: Dawn E. Saunders
Author: Torsten Baldeweg

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