A Developmental Study of the Feedback-Related Negativity From 10–17 Years: Age and Sex Effects for Reward Versus Non-Reward

Abstract

We employed event-related potentials to examine the feedback-related negativity (FRN), during a non-learning reward versus non-reward task. We compared 10–12-year-old, 13–14-year-old, and 15–17-year-old youth (n = 91). Age effects included a larger FRN for younger age groups, regardless of feedback type, and a decrease in peak latency for feedback, across age groups as a linear trend. Males showed larger responses irrespective of feedback type and longer latency for rewarded feedback. Source modeling revealed reward/non-reward differences in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and orbitofrontal cortex, most strongly in the subgenual ACC. Males showed more subgenual ACC activity for feedback overall.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NARSAD Young Investigator Award (MJC), Yale Interdisciplinary Research Consortium on Stress, Self-Control and Addiction Pilot project funding (MJC) through 1UL1RR024925-01 (R. Sinha); NIDA grants RO1-DA-06025 (LCM), DA-017863 (LCM), and KO5 (LCM), and a grant from the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation (LCM). This publication was also made possible by CTSA grant number UL1 RR024139 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NCRR or NIH.