Institute of Psychology
Institute of Psychology
New Publication by Alexander Dolge!
9 June 2026, by Anke Ellegast
What do brain waves have to do with error processing? We explored this question in our newly published study and examined how people with and without obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) process errors and how they adjust their response depending on the task instructions, which emphasize either speed or accuracy. To do this, we analyzed behavioral data and so-called oscillations. That is, frequency bands extracted from the EEG signal (“brain waves”), such as theta (4–8 Hz) and delta (1–4 Hz), related to incorrect and correct responses from a reaction task (flanker task). For example, the theta frequency band is strongly linked to the brain function of cognitive control, which in turn is suspected to be altered in people with OCD and is activated particularly after errors.
The results show: Under the speed instruction, error processing—both behavioral and neural—in people with OCD proceeds somewhat differently overall than in the control group. Patients with OCD generally react more accurately but also more slowly, even though the instruction clearly aims at speed and efficiency. At the same time, differences in prefrontal brain activity emerge under the speed condition, which reflect the cognitive control network. Theta and delta activity suggest that the use of cognitive control following errors in people with OCD is less flexible. It varies less selectively between the two instructions, depending on the goal (“speed” vs. “accuracy”), than in unaffected individuals.
Our data also suggest that group differences in so-called connectivity—that is, the neural exchange of information—between medial and lateral regions of the prefrontal cortex are related to the increased influence of cognitive control and thus to the increased accuracy of people with OCD under time pressure. Overall, the findings support the assumption that in OCD, not only is error processing itself affected, but also the ability to adapt one’s response to errors in a situation-appropriate manner. Thus, the study provides new insights into which brain mechanisms might be responsible for increased cognitive control and reduced flexibility in error processing.