Electrophysiological correlates of performance monitoring in binge drinking: Impaired error-related but preserved feedback processing

•Performance monitoring (PM), while crucial for adapted actions, is unexplored in binge drinking (BD).•Brain correlates of error-related and feedback-related PM were measured by event-related potentials.•BD showed a dissociation between PM subcomponents (preserved feedback but abnormal error processing).

ObjectivePerformance monitoring, which allows efficient behavioral regulation using either internal (error processing) or external (feedback processing) cues, has not yet been explored in binge drinking despite its adaptive importance in everyday life, particularly in the regulation of alcohol consumption. Capitalizing on a theoretical model of risky behaviors, the present study aimed at determining the behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of the cognitive (inhibition) and motivational (reward sensitivity) systems during performance monitoring.MethodsEvent-related potentials were recorded from 20 binge drinkers and 20 non-binge drinkers during two experimental tasks, a speeded Go/No-Go Task [investigating internal error processing by Error-Related Negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe)] and a Balloon Analogue Risk Task [investigating external feedback processing by Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN) and P3].ResultsWhile no group differences were observed at the behavioral level, electrophysiological results showed that binge drinkers, despite having intact feedback-related components, presented modified error-monitoring components (i.e. larger ERN amplitude, delayed Pe latency).ConclusionsInternal performance monitoring is impaired in binge drinkers, showing an abnormal automatic processing of response errors (ERN) and a decreased processing of their motivational significance (Pe).SignificanceThese results suggest that the electrophysiological correlates of inhibitory control allow identifying the specific binge drinking consumption pattern.