Evidence for high-level processing of postural errors

Abstract

The ability to detect and correct postural errors is critical for maintaining an equilibrium position while standing. There is growing evidence that error detection in humans is hierarchically organized into separate systems for high-level errors (failure to meet goals) and low-level errors (perturbations in the action or environment). However, the role of high-level error processing in postural control is currently unclear. In the present study, we provided high-level feedback to participants while they maintained one of four different postural equilibrium positions. Electroencephalographic data recordings revealed that error feedback in this task elicited an error-related negativity (ERN): a component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) associated with high-level error evaluation within medial-frontal cortex. This result provides the first strong evidence that although postural control is subserved by midbrain structures (i.e., the basal ganglia), high-level error-evaluation systems within the brain play a key role in learning to control our body posture—a conclusion that lends further support to Krigolson and Holroyd's (2007) hierarchical error-processing hypothesis.

Acknowledgments: This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.