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The Nature of the Relationship Between Anxiety and the Error-Related Negativity Across Development

  • Child and Developmental Psychiatry (KD Fitzgerald, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

I review the literature on the relationship between anxiety and the error-related negativity (ERN), a neurophysiological marker of performance monitoring, across development. I cover the development of the ERN, its functional significance, and its different relationship with anxiety in young children compared to adolescents and adults.

Recent Findings

Contemporary research indicates that the ERN becomes larger with age and shows primary sources in cingulate, frontal, and motor cortices. Functional accounts of the ERN and its relationship with anxiety emphasize either cognitive control or affective mechanisms. Converging evidence across development suggests a reduced ERN characterizes anxious young children whereas an enlarged ERN characterizes older children, adolescents, and adults.

Summary

The mechanisms involved in the developmental change in the relationship between the ERN and anxiety have important implications for better understanding interactions between cognitive control, anxiety, and motivation across the life span. Further research is needed to address extant methodological limitations and make stronger links to related neuroscience findings and theory on the development of anxiety and self-control.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

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  1. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 316 Physics Rd, Rm 110B, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA

    Jason S. Moser

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Moser, J.S. The Nature of the Relationship Between Anxiety and the Error-Related Negativity Across Development. Curr Behav Neurosci Rep 4, 309–321 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40473-017-0132-7

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