Hierarchical Error Evaluation: The Role of Medial-Frontal Cortex in Postural Control

Motor error evaluation appears to be a hierarchically organized process subserved by 2 distinct systems: a higher level system within medial-frontal cortex responsible for movement outcome evaluation (high-level error evaluation) and a lower level posterior system(s) responsible for the mediation of within-movement errors (low-level error evaluation). While a growing body of evidence suggests that a reinforcement learning system within medial-frontal cortex plays a crucial role in the evaluation of high-level errors made during discrete reaching movements and continuous motor tracking, the role of this system in postural control is currently unclear. Participants learned a postural control task via a feedback-driven trial-and-error shaping process. In line with previous findings, electroencephalographic recordings revealed that feedback about movement outcomes elicited a feedback error–related negativity: a component of the human event-related brain potential associated with high-level outcome evaluation within medial-frontal cortex. Thus, the data provide evidence that a high-level error-evaluation system within medial-frontal cortex plays a key role in learning to control our body posture.