The effect of erroneous responses on response monitoring in patients with major depressive disorder: A study with event-related potentials

Perceived failure is reported to have detrimental effects on subsequent performance in patients with major depressive disorder. We investigated the error-related negativity (ERN)-error negativity (N sub(e)), an electrophysiological correlate of response monitoring, using a 64-channel EEG. Sixteen patients with DSM-IV major depressive disorder and 16 matched controls participated in an Eriksen flanker task with continuous performance feedback that signaled monetary reward. Compared to controls, patients with major depressive disorder showed a less negative ERN-N sub(e) in error trials following error trials. This result might reflect impaired response monitoring processes in major depressive disorder resulting from an underactivity in a central reward pathway and-or a deficit in strategic reasoning.