Asymmetric Modulation of FRN by the Probability and Value of Outcomes in Auditory Mid Task

Abstract

Reward prediction error (RPE) reflects the discrepancy between received and predicted outcomes and therefore plays an important role in learning in a dynamic environment. Using electroencephalographic measures of response to obtained and expected outcomes, previous studies have suggested that feedback-related negativity (FRN) could code RPE. It has further been hypothesized that FRN should be sensitive to both the likelihood and magnitude of behavioral outcomes. Previous studies consistently demonstrated that FRN is sensitive to the probability of outcomes, while the evidence of its sensitivity to the magnitude of outcomes is less consistent. In neuroimaging studies, a monetary incentive delay (MID) task is often used to evaluate the dependence of feedback processing on the RPE’s sign and size. In this article, for the first time, we studied FRN’s sensitivity to the valence, likelihood, and magnitude of outcomes during a novel auditory version of an MID task. FRN demonstrated sensitivity to both the valence of an outcome (gain vs. omission of a gain) and its probability (high vs. low). However, we did not observe a modulation of FRN amplitude by the magnitude of the outcomes. We also found that subjects’ behavior was more susceptible to changes in the probability than to the magnitude of the outcomes. Overall, FRN seems to be a promising tool to study the learning mechanisms of decision making.

Keywords: feedback-related negativity, monetary incentive delay task, expected value, electroencephalography

JEL Classification: Z