Purpose of review: I review the literature on the relationship between anxiety and the error-related negativity (ERN), a neurophysiological marker of performance monitoring, across development. I cover the development of the ERN, its functional significance, and its different relationship with anxiety in young children compared to adolescents and adults.
Recent findings: Contemporary research indicates that the ERN becomes larger with age and shows primary sources in cingulate, frontal, and motor cortices. Functional accounts of the ERN and its relationship with anxiety emphasize either cognitive control or affective mechanisms. Converging evidence across development suggests a reduced ERN characterizes anxious young children whereas an enlarged ERN characterizes older children, adolescents and adults.
Summary: The mechanisms involved in the developmental change in the relationship between the ERN and anxiety have important implications for better understanding interactions between cognitive control, anxiety, and motivation across the lifespan. Further research is needed to address extant methodological limitations and make stronger links to related neuroscience findings and theory on the development of anxiety and self-control.
Keywords: ERN; Error-related negativity; adolescence; anxiety; children; development.