Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7278216 | Biological Psychology | 2018 | 33 Pages |
Abstract
Trauma and stress, like that which occurs as a result of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), can change brain structure and function, especially in medial prefrontal and hippocampal areas, and can impact self-regulatory skill. The error-related negativity (ERN) is a medial frontal negative event-related potential (ERP) component that is more negative when a participant makes an erroneous versus correct response. We investigated the association of ACEs to adolescents' ERN and self-regulation. Forty-three 12-15â¯year olds performed a flanker task while EEG data were recorded. We found an interaction between trial type (correct vs incorrect) and group (low, medium and high trauma groups) on the ERN. The high-trauma group showed a larger Error-Correct difference than the low- and medium-trauma groups. This appeared as trend correlations between overall trauma exposure as a continuous variable and ERN-related variables. Trauma exposure was associated with reduced self-regulatory capacity, and accounting for self-regulation decreased the associations between trauma and the ERN, suggestive of a protective effect for self-regulation.
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Authors
Christine L. Lackner, Diane L. Santesso, Jane Dywan, Deborah D. O'Leary, Terrance J. Wade, Sidney J. Segalowitz,