Perigenual anterior cingulate event-related potential precedes stop signal errors

Momentary lapses in attention disrupt goal-directed behavior. Attentional lapse has been associated with increased “default-mode” network (DMN) activity. In our previous fMRI study of a stop signal task (SST), greater activation of the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) - an important node of the DMN - predicts stop signal errors. In event-related potential (ERP) studies, the amplitude of an error-preceding positivity (EPP) also predicts response error. However, it is not clear whether the EPP originates from DMN regions. Here, we combined high-density array EEG and an SST to examine response-locked ERPs of error preceding trials in twenty young adult participants. The results showed an EPP in go trials that preceded stop error than stop success trials. Importantly, source modeling identified the origin of the EPP in the pgACC. By employing a bootstrapping procedure, we further confirmed that pgACC rather than the dorsal ACC as the source provides a better fit to the EPP. Together, these results suggest that attentional lapse in association with EPP in the pgACC anticipates failure in response inhibition.