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Original Research ARTICLE
Mal-adaptation of event-related EEG responses preceding performance errors
- 1 Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- 2 Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, Cologne, Germany
- 3 Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
- 4 Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Recent EEG and fMRI evidence suggests that behavioral errors are foreshadowed by systematic changes in brain activity preceding the outcome by seconds. In order to further characterize this type of error precursor activity, we investigated single-trial event-related EEG activity from 70 participants performing a modified Eriksen flanker task, in particular focusing on the trial-by-trial dynamics of a fronto-central independent component that previously has been associated with error and feedback processing. The stimulus-locked peaks in the N2 and P3 latency range in the event-related averages showed expected compatibility and error-related modulations. In addition, a small pre-stimulus negative slow wave was present at erroneous trials. Significant error-preceding activity was found in local stimulus sequences with decreased conflict in the form of less negativity at the N2 latency (310–350 ms) accumulating across five trials before errors; concomitantly response times were speeding across trials. These results illustrate that error-preceding activity in event-related EEG is associated with the performance monitoring system and we conclude that the dynamics of performance monitoring contribute to the generation of error-prone states in addition to the more remote and indirect effects in ongoing activity such as posterior alpha power in EEG and default mode drifts in fMRI.
"It is hardly surprising to find that the organism's response to "identical" stimuli is in flux. The nervous system is not a passive recipient of inputs that are obediently switched to outputs; rather it is a dynamic system that continuously generates hypotheses about the environment"
It is trivial to state that human behavior and human brain activity are highly variable, yet more than thirty years after presenting the astonishing EEG data that led Squires and colleagues to write these lines, echoing James' prescient perception (James, 1890, the digitized text is freely available at http://www.archive.org/) the core assumption in cognitive neuroscience and its neuroimaging methods still maintains that there is a deterministic event-related signal and random noise. This assumption is used to justify averaging the rich and complex information in EEG and fMRI measurements for denoising and data reduction (in event-related EEG simply by taking the mean across trials, in fMRI through first-level modeling with fixed predictors). This happens, we assume, for analytical convenience and traditional reasons, although the average signal does not at all reflect a great deal of variability in the raw data (roughly about 10%), and is not necessarily representative of the single trials at which some behavior occurred (Arieli et al., 1996; Raichle and Snyder, 2007). The challenge for cognitive neuroscience in a time when processors are fast and memory is cheap is to utilize the many elegant methods for single-trial analysis that are (mostly freely) available and peek into the exciting dynamics of brain activity on a moment-to-moment basis. In order to make the case, we present an example from event-related EEG where a combination of data decomposition with independent component analysis (ICA), multiple regression and deconvolution is used to derive a heretofore unknown electrophysiological precursor of behavioral errors.
Since the observation of the medial frontal negativity in the response-locked event-related potential associated with error commission (Falkenstein et al., 1991; Gehring et al., 1993), brain activity patterns and behavioral changes that are caused by errors have received a great deal of attention and helped in understanding how the brain responds to errors, and shapes subsequent behavioral adaptation. A neural system located mainly within the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ), the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and the anterior insular cortex has been identified to support this function by signaling the need for increased control, whenever the action goal is not achieved or the risk to fail is high (Ridderinkhof et al., 2004; Debener et al., 2005; Klein et al., 2007).
In contradistinction, changes in brain activity and behavior preceding errors have received much less attention, although these antecedent conditions may help to understand how brain states affect behavioral accuracy, and activity patterns preceding errors might lend themselves to prediction of upcoming performance, which would possibly have a number of interesting real-world applications. To date, only a limited amount of studies have investigated EEG activity immediately preceding errors; these have employed different EEG features for analysis and the evidence points to different, but quite possibly interrelated sources of performance errors. Briefly summarized, in trials preceding errors event-related EEG shows more positive response-locked activity (Ridderinkhof et al., 2003; Allain et al., 2004; Hajcak et al., 2005), reduced theta power (Cavanagh et al., 2009), decreased amplitudes of stimulus-preceding contingent negative variation and the stimulus-following P300 components (O'Connell et al., 2009), while α and μ rhythm power increase (Mazaheri et al., 2009).
In addition, changes expanding on a longer timescale across trials before errors can be observed in behavioral, electrophysiological, and hemodynamic measures: responses are executed increasingly more quickly (Smith and Brewer, 1995; Gehring and Fencsik, 2001), frontal and insular regions associated with attention regulation and effort show a graded decline of hemodynamic activation (Eichele et al., 2008), while event-related responses in regions within the default mode network (Raichle et al., 2001) show reduced deactivation (Li et al., 2007; Eichele et al., 2008). Similarly, an increase in right parietally localized α-power in the scalp EEG evolves across the same timescale (O'Connell et al., 2009).
We have previously suggested that such trends in the trial-by-trial dynamics of hemodynamic activity preceding errors stem from a (mal-)adaptive system rather than spontaneous variability. As such, we posit that error-preceding activity more or less directly represents parts of the systems that mediate error monitoring and more general cognitive control functions (Ridderinkhof et al., 2004; Ullsperger and von Cramon, 2004). In the context of cognitive control models (Yeung et al., 2004; Yu et al., 2009) this account predicts that variations of the stimulus sequence that impact on conflict (and attention) are continuously employed to adapt the system, and thus are reflected in the dynamics of event-related responses generated by the system. We imply more generally that a representation of predictive information transferred in the stimulus history is continuously utilized to optimize brain responses (Sutton et al., 1965; Squires et al., 1976; Eichele et al., 2005; Friston, 2005; Raichle, 2006; Botvinick, 2007; Mars et al., 2008). This optimization yields adjustments of overt response speed and commensurate corticospinal excitability when events are repetitive and subjectively predictable (Huettel et al., 2002, 2005; Bestmann et al., 2008) and consequently affect the trade-off between speed and accuracy (Forstmann et al., 2008; Ivanoff et al., 2008; van Veen et al., 2008).
Here, we employed a modified Eriksen flanker task (Eriksen and Eriksen, 1974; Gratton et al., 1992) and the event-related responses in this task are modulated by conflict in particular during the latency of the N2 from about 250 ms after stimulus onset, extending well into the latency of the P3 up to around 500 ms (Kopp et al., 1996; Yeung et al., 2004; Folstein and Van Petten, 2008). Errors occur relatively more often to incompatible trials, in particular when these follow low conflict compatible trials and yield a large error-related negativity (ERN) in the response-locked EEG at about 80 ms with a subsequent positivity (Falkenstein et al., 2000; Debener et al., 2005).
The present study focuses on the dynamics of a medial frontal EEG source with a generator in the RCZ that previously has been associated with error and feedback processing (Roger et al., 2010; Debener et al., 2005; Gentsch et al., 2009), providing the scalp electrophysiological surrogate for the performance monitoring system. We aimed to show that this source reflects mal-adaptive event-related activity preceding erroneous performance at the time of conflict/compatibility processing, in particular we expect gradually lower amplitudes of event-related responses similar to our previous fMRI findings. This finding would link error precursors more directly to performance monitoring, rather than to unspecific ongoing activity producing spurious noise signals that lead to random lapses in performance.
In order to separate the medial frontal source from other event-related responses and background activity we employed temporal ICA (Bell and Sejnowski, 1995) and identified for each participant the source that jointly topographically and functionally reflected conflict and error responses (IE) and then analyzed the trial-by-trial by dynamics surrounding errors. Due to its role in (pre-response) conflict processing and temporal overlap with the ERN we expected in particular the N2 amplitude to show a gradually lesser negativity prior to errors. However, we inspected the entire time period surrounding stimulus onset to pick up trends localized to preceding responses (Ridderinkhof et al., 2003), as well as stimulus-preceding negativities and P3 (O'Connell et al., 2009).
Materials and Methods
Seventy participants (29 male, 41 female) are included in this study and were recruited from psychology and medicine undergraduate classes at the University of Bergen. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants and the study was approved by Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics, West-Norway. Included participants had normal, or corrected to normal vision, and no history of neurological or psychiatric disorders and present use of psychotropic medication. Eight of the participants were left-handed individuals. The mean age of the participants was 22.02 years (±3.01). Data from five additional participants were discarded due to excessive non-stereotyped EEG artifacts.
Experimental Design
After verbal and written instruction and a training sequence, participants performed a modified visual Eriksen flanker task implemented in E-prime 2 (Psychology software tools). At the center of a PC screen, participants were presented a fixation dot. Trials began with the presentation of six horizontal flanker-arrows appearing below the fixation. Participants were instructed to respond as fast as possible and as accurate as possible with either a left or a right mouse button press following the direction of a central target arrow that appeared 100 ms after the flankers. The central target arrow pointed either into the same direction as the flanker-arrows in compatible trials (<<< < <<<, >>> > >>>) or in the opposite direction in incompatible trials (<<< > <<<, >>> < >>>). The target and flanker-arrows remained on screen until a response was registered. Trials were terminated by the motor response and were followed by a fixed 800 ms interval before the onset of the next trial. Stimuli were presented in five blocks with 200 trials that were pseudo-randomized separately for each participant. No performance feedback was given during the experiment. The overall probability of compatible and incompatible trials, as well as left and right responses was kept at 0.5, respectively. Local probability manipulations of compatibility, response and stimulus-type were embedded in the stimulus sequences: twenty four participants received stimulus sequences in which compatibility was parametrically varied in short sequences of 40 trials in which the ratio between the compatible and incompatible trials was 1/9, 3/7, 5/5, 7/3 or 9/1, respectively, while the probability of a left/right response was kept at 0.5. Twenty three participants received stimulus sequences in which response side was similarly varied in sequences of 40 trials with ratios between left and right of 1/9, 3/7, 5/5, 7/3 or 9/1, respectively, while conflict was kept at 0.5. Twenty three participant received sequences with sequences of 50 trials in which one of the trial type appeared at p = 0.7, and the other three stimuli at p = 0.1 respectively. Here, we only focus on error-preceding activity which is present in all three experiments, and will report the main effects of parametric manipulations elsewhere.
Trial Sequence
Errors in the flanker task are not randomly distributed but occur more frequently at high conflict incompatible trials. In order to visualize and analyze the relationship between errors and the preceding stimulus sequence the compatibility was coded in a binary vector containing all trials, where −1 denoted compatible, and +1 denoted incompatible trials, respectively. These were then used to derive the average occurrences from five trials prior to five trials after errors (see Figure 4, top panel).
Behavioral Analysis
Response time (RT) and response accuracy (RACC) averages were generated for all possible outcomes. Responses faster than 100 ms (0.03%) and slower than 1000 ms (0.48%) were not considered. Errors were defined as incorrect key presses to compatible and incompatible trials. The categorical effects of compatibility, stimulus/response repetition and accuracy were removed from the single-trial RTs by means of multiple linear regression (Notebaert and Verguts, 2007). The RACC data for each participant were coded as a binary vector with 0 representing correct outcomes, and 1 errors, and were then used to derive the residual modulation from five trials prior to five trials after error commission using the deconvolution method we have introduced for hemodynamic response estimation previously (Eichele et al., 2008). In brief, we take the Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse of the convolution matrix containing the −5…+5 lagged versions of the accuracy predictor and multiply this with the RT/EEG vector yielding the residual modulation surrounding the error as the output. An illustration of the method with a simulation example is provided in Figure 1, for further details and areas of application see our previous work (Eichele et al., 2008, 2009).
Figure 1. Illustration of deconvolution of latent sequential effects. (A) We assume a latent precursor signal that gradually evolves across trials and precedes each error; (B) In order to illustrate a noiseless sequence of single trials we convolve a vector with 10% errors at random instances, note the summation of overlapping sequences; (C) for real data, we assume additional noise; (D) Convolution of the noisy data (C+E) with (A) yields the simulated single-trial data that are used for deconvolution; (E) In order to deconvolve the data, we use a "Stick"-function that describes the occurrence of errors; (F) stacking the stick function at different lags is the convolution matrix; (G) we then take the pseudo-inverse of (F) and multiply the resulting matrix with the noisy data (D); (H) The product is an estimate of the precursor. In this figure, we show the average across 100 runs, error bars indicate the ±1 standard deviation around the mean.
Deconvolution enables inclusion of overlapping trial sequences with errors and is preferable to within-subject averaging here. The deconvolved RT modulation was tested with point-wise one-sample t-tests against zero mean; in addition a linear slope was fitted to the five error-preceding trials using linear regression. The resulting scaling factors were also subjected to a one-sample t-test to provide "random" effects population inferences (Figure 4, middle panel).
EEG Acquisition
EEGs were recorded continuously inside an electromagnetically and acoustically shielded chamber (Rainford EMC Systems, Wigan, UK) at 1-kHz sampling frequency (low cutoff at 0.1 Hz and a high cutoff at 250 Hz) with BrainAmp MR plus X2 amplifiers (BrainProducts, Munich, Germany). Participants were fitted with an elastic cap (Braincap, FMS, Falk Minow Services, Herrsching, Germany) containing 61 Ag/AgCl electrodes placed at Fp1, Fpz, Fp2, AF7, AF3, AFz, AF4, AF8, F7, F5, F3, F1, Fz, F2, F4, F6, F8, FT7, FC5, FC3, FC1, FCz, FC2, FC4, FC6, FT8, T7, C5, C3, C1, Cz, C2, C4, C6, T8, TP7, CP5, CP3, CP1, CPz, CP2, CP4, CP6, TP8, P7, P5, P3, P1, Pz, P2, P4, P6, P8, PO7, PO3, POz, PO4, PO8, O1, Oz, O2, TP9 and TP10. Vertical eye movements were monitored with a bipolar derivation between Fp1 and an additional electrode placed below the left eye. Additionally, ECG was monitored. Channels were referenced to TP9 with a ground on the right cheek and impedances were kept below 10 kΩ.
EEG Processing
The EEG data were offline re-referenced to common average reference, filtered from 0.5 to 45 Hz (12 db), and decimated to 500 Hz sampling rate. The data were then divided into epochs spanning from before the preceding response (−900 ms relative to target onset) to after the current response (+1100 ms after target onset), the mean value of the entire epoch served as baseline. Segments containing large, non-stereotyped artifacts with amplitudes exceeding ±300 μV on any of the channels were rejected, and padded with the average of adjacent trials. Hereafter, the 61 scalp channels from each dataset were subjected to temporal ICA using infomax (Bell and Sejnowski, 1995), implemented in EEGLAB (Delorme and Makeig, 2004), estimated 30 components after PCA compression. For an overview about ICA and its applications to neuroimaging data see (Makeig et al., 2004; Stone, 2004; Calhoun et al., 2009; Eichele et al., 2009). In order to cluster components for further analysis and identify the most relevant to conflict and error processing we used automated sorting routines. Firstly, correlation with spatial templates for blink and lateral eyes movements was used to identify ocular artifacts (Viola et al., 2009). Secondly, muscular and other artifacts mainly localized to single electrodes were identified through the spatial standard deviation of the topography and correlation with a spectral template. From the remaining components, one was extracted for each participant that best matched the expected fronto-central topography, with large amplitude error-related activity and a conditional difference between compatible and incompatible trials (Roger et al., 2010; Debener et al., 2005; Gentsch et al., 2009). In most participants this procedure yielded a single matching component. In one participant the topography did not match the spatial template. In about 10% of the sample, two or three components matched the criteria, and we selected the one with the largest correlation score. Topographies of the selected components were assigned a positive maximum, and the component activations were then back projected onto sensor level to recover the sign and amplitude of the scalp recorded potentials.
In order to test the consistency of topographies across participants, the channel weights were entered into one-sample t-tests under the assumption of zero magnitude. For visualization, topographies were also averaged, and a random sample of six individual topographies is provided in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Top row, left: the group average topography, scaled from −2 to +2 μV shows a clear maximum at FCz, extending to the neighboring electrodes FC, FC2, C1, Cz and C2. The spatial T-map (top row, middle) and the corresponding map of the standard error of the mean (SEM) illustrate the robustness of the selected topography in the sample. The middle and bottom rows (participants A–F) provide six randomly drawn single subject replications.
Amplitude differences of individual component averages for compatible and incompatible correct (IC) trials were tested with paired t-tests at all time points to derive the latency and magnitude of the conflict effect; similarly, the difference between component averages for IC trials and error trials were subjected to paired t-tests to test for error-related responses.
In order to estimate error-preceding activity not predicted by the categorical effects of compatibility, stimulus/response repetition and accuracy, which themselves exert significant influences on the event-related response we removed the variability associated with these predictors from the single-trial EEG at each time point by means of multiple linear regression. In effect, the N2–P3 amplitude difference due to conflict, the error-specific response (ERN/Pe), and unspecific repetition priming (Mayr et al., 2003; Ullsperger et al., 2005) were subtracted from the data before further analysis. As for the behavioral data, the RACC vectors were used to deconvolve the residual event-related EEG modulation from five trials prior to five trials after error commission for the average amplitude in the latency window around the maximal N2 conflict effect (310–350 ms). The residual event-related modulation was tested with point-wise one-sample t-tests against zero mean; in addition a linear gradient was fitted to the five error-preceding trials using linear regression. The resulting scaling factors were also subjected to a one-sample t-test. Additional latency windows around stimulus onset, the early sensory evoked responses, P3 and post-response slow waves were also explored but yielded no significant residual effects preceding errors (data not shown).
Effects of all statistical tests were significant at an uncorrected t-threshold of p < 0.002 for two-tailed tests.
Stimulus sequence
Eighty two percent of all errors occurred to incompatible trials, an expected outcome in the flanker task. Error-preceding trials showed an increased frequency of compatible trials (63%), the linear fit across five preceding trials resulted in an average 2% per trial increase of compatible trials (t69 = −6.27). Following erroneous responses, the probability of compatible/incompatible outcomes expectedly returns to 0.5. Figure 4 (top panel) shows the modulation of compatibility surrounding error trials.
The RT and RACC results yielded a pattern typical for the Flanker task. Compatible correct (CC) responses were associated with fast RT (362 ms ± 0.62) and low error rate (2.0% ± 0.02), while incompatible trials showed slower RT (461 ms ± 0.72) and more frequent errors (9.2% ± 0.08) with fast RT (309 ms ± 0.89). Residual RTs were on average 11 ms (±2.42), faster in trials immediately prior to errors (t69 = −4.76). Across the five error-preceding trials, the linear fit indicated average speeding by 2.5 ms (±0.56) per trial (t69 = −4.51). After error trials post-error slowing of responses by 42 ms (±6.15) was observed (t69 = 6.87). In subsequent trials sustained slowing on the order of 15 ms was present (all trials p < 0.001). The RT modulation around errors is shown in Figure 4 in the middle panel.
The component topographies were fairly stable across participants, with an average maximum at FCz (2.31 ± 0.06, t69 = 40.97); the average of the spatial correlation between all individual topographies was 0.83.
In the component time courses the largest differences between CC and IC responses were seen during the latency of the N2 at 316 ms post stimulus with a 0.95 μV more negative peak in incompatible trials (t69 = −7.12); at 430 ms the P3 peak was 1.21 μV larger (t69 = 6.96). Error trials yielded a large negativity at 350 ms post stimulus (−3.76 μV, t69 = −12.01), corresponding to the response-locked ERN, and a subsequent positivity at 546 ms (3.54 μV, t69 = 12.71). In addition, we observed a small negativity (−0.40 μV, t69 = −5.29) that preceded stimulus onsets with subsequent IE by approximately 200–300 ms, and which sustained through the early P1 and N1 peaks of the component average.
These effects are visible in the independent component event-related potentials (ICERPs) in the bottom sections of Figure 3, to the left separately for CC, IC, and IE, to the right as difference waves.
Figure 3. Top left: Group average RT-sorted single-trial ICERP image showing the dependency of the stimulus-locked response on RT (gray line). The relative frequency of incompatible trials is given on the left of the image in blue, the proportion of errors in red. The figure illustrates in particular N2 and P3 preceding the response in mainly correct trials with slower RT (top half of the image), and ERN and PE following the response at error trials (bottom quarter of the image). Top right: Shows the average accuracy across the group sorted by the component amplitude at each time point and shows higher error rates in red, and lower than error rates in blue (equivalent to "vincentizing"). The dominant feature in the figure is the scaling of error rate with increasing negative amplitudes during the N2/ERN latency and during the pre-stimulus negativity, and inversely during the P3/Pe latency range. Bottom left: conditional ICERPs for compatible correct (CC, green), incompatible correct (IC, blue), and error responses (IE, red). Bottom right: difference waves for incompatible correct minus compatible correct (blue) and incompatible errors minus incompatible correct (red).
In addition to ICERPs we visualized the dependency of the stimulus-locked response on RT by sorting the epochs by RT (Figure 3, top left, gray line represents the average sorted RT), and averaging the resulting single-trial image across participants. For orientation, we also overlaid the relative frequency of incompatible trials (blue line), and errors (red line). The figure illustrates in particular N2 and P3 preceding the response in mainly correct trials with slower RT (top half of the image), and ERN and PE following the response at error trials (bottom quarter of the image). Correspondingly, the top right section of the figure presents the average RACC across the participants when the data are sorted by the component amplitude at each time point and shows higher than mean error rates in red, and lower than mean error rates in blue. The dominant feature in the figure is the scaling of error rate with increasing negative amplitudes during the N2/ERN latency and during the pre-stimulus negativity, and inversely during the P3/Pe latency range.
The residual amplitude at the N2 latency was on average 0.34 μV (±0.08) more positive in trials immediately prior to errors (t69 = 4.11). Correspondingly, a positive-going trend of 0.07 μV (±0.02) was estimated across the five error-preceding trials (t69 = 2.99). Following errors, N2 estimates returned to baseline. The EEG modulation around errors is shown in Figure 4 in the bottom panel.
Figure 4. Top panel: Most errors occurred to incompatible trials, and error-preceding trials showed an increased frequency of compatible trials. Following errors, the probability of compatible/incompatible outcomes is equal (as it is across the entire experiment). Middle panel: Residual RTs were on average 11 ms faster in trials immediately prior to errors and were speeding by 2.5 ms per trial from −5 to −1. Post-error slowing of responses by 42 ms was observed and in subsequent trials sustained slowing on the order of 15 ms was present. Bottom panel: The residual amplitude at the N2 latency was less negative in trials prior to errors and a trend was present across the five error-preceding trials. Following errors, N2 estimates returned to baseline. Note that, in contradistinction to Figure 3, conflict-related N2 modulations as well as the error-related amplitude increase equivalent to the ERN/N2 have been removed by multiple linear regression.
This study addressed the question whether errors are associated with antecedent (mal-)adaptation of the performance monitoring system effective during conflict processing indexed by the N2 amplitude modulation in a medial frontal independent source (Roger et al., 2010; Debener et al., 2005; Gentsch et al., 2009).
In order to unmix the scalp EEG correlates of performance monitoring from unrelated event-related responses and background rhythms we employed blind source separation with infomax ICA in the time domain and used correlation-based clustering of individual component topographies and time courses to identify this source across a large sample of individual datasets. From inspection and statistical analysis of the data presented in Figures 1 and 2 we assume that the decomposition allows focusing selectively on the best surrogate for performance monitoring and affords a single-trial analysis of this source without latent confounds from other concurrent processes (Makeig et al., 2004; Onton et al., 2006), thus the error-preceding activity changes reported here should be largely unrelated to lapses that relate to spontaneous fluctuations of intrinsic activity.
The ICERPs showed a typical pattern of results with an N2–P3 conflict effect (Forster et al., 2010; Folstein and Van Petten, 2008) and a large (albeit stimulus-locked) ERN/Pe to error trials (Falkenstein et al., 1991; Gehring et al., 1993). Of note, erroneous trials showed a sustained negativity that significantly deviated from baseline already before flanker/target onset (Figure 3, bottom left), suggesting that (premature) error commission indeed starts before the stimulus has arrived. In terms of topography and timing this negativity may be related to preparatory potentials such as the (typically much larger) contingent negative variation that have sources in the medial walls of the frontal lobes (Nagai et al., 2004). Alternatively, this deflection may represent asymmetric oscillations around stimulus onset (Mazaheri and Jensen, 2008), possibly in the theta-range which also has been associated with this topography during task processing (Onton et al., 2005) and relaxed resting (Scheeringa et al., 2008). Although a long trend across trials was not present this negativity deserves further study.
The results shown in Figure 4 yield three error-preceding phenomena. First: an increasing frequency of compatible trials prior to mainly incompatible errors. Second: speeding of RTs similar to previous reports (Smith and Brewer, 1995; Gehring and Fencsik, 2001). Third: a positive-going trend in the N2 latency range of the IC event-related response. RT and N2 effects were present in averages and deconvolution output estimated from the raw data (data not shown), and remained significant in the residual activity after removal of confounding effects, that is, the error-preceding activity cannot be solely accounted for by skewed averaging of compatible/incompatible trials or stimulus repetition priming.
What then is the mechanism behind error precursors? Predictive information conveyed by the stimulus history triggers neural and consequently behavioral adaptation. Local sequences with increased occurrence of a particular stimulus reduce the surprise about the more frequent stimulus, reduce the local entropy in the stimulus sequence and thus increase the subjective predictability of upcoming stimuli (Huettel et al., 2002; Bestmann et al., 2008; Mars et al., 2008) and the possibility for "strategic modulation" (Gratton et al., 1992). As alluded to by the opening quote from the work of Squires and colleagues (Squires et al., 1976), generating predictions about upcoming stimuli/responses is a pervasive and automatic process that permits adaptive, optimized, fast and accurate responding to upcoming stimuli and has been shown on many levels of the cortical hierarchy (Squires et al., 1976; Llinas, 2001; Huettel et al., 2002; Eichele et al., 2005; Friston, 2005; Raichle, 2006; Bestmann et al., 2008). In the special case where low conflict compatible trials accumulate in the flanker task the mechanism becomes mal-adaptive, in the sense that RTs are speeding while conflict-monitoring-driven recruitment of effort by activity in the medial frontal wall is lowered concurrently, yielding a more error-prone trade-off between speed and accuracy (Forstmann et al., 2008; Ivanoff et al., 2008; van Veen et al., 2008). According to current theories of cognitive control the performance monitoring system provides signals for adaptive optimization of goal-directed behavior and signals the need for adjustments required in responses after errors and, more generally, whenever the action outcome is at risk (Botvinick et al., 2004; Ridderinkhof et al., 2004; Rushworth et al., 2007). Here, we show that the basic function of this system makes it equally susceptible to mal-adaptive over-optimization in the presence of random event series where local sequences convey low conflict and low uncertainty about future outcomes (Botvinick, 2007; Eichele et al., 2008). This is in line with the notion that the posterior medial frontal cortex plays a major role in effort-based cost-benefit valuations in humans (Croxson et al., 2009) and other animals (Schweimer et al., 2005; Rudebeck et al., 2006). In this way the gradual decline in N2 amplitude across trials preceding errors appears to reflect a reduction of attentional effort, which by itself is driven by increasing predictability.
Additionally, we should note that components in the N2 latency range serve as a match/mismatch detectors that are reduced by stimulus predictability and increased by surprise/prediction error (Eichele et al., 2005; Jongsma et al., 2006) in a similar way as the later P3 (Sutton et al., 1965; Mars et al., 2008), such that conflict-related and mismatch-related subcomponents, if represented together in the source analyzed here, might be reduced jointly (Forster et al., 2010; Folstein and Van Petten, 2008).
Considering the present results together with recent literature, it appears that apart from behavioral changes (Smith and Brewer, 1995; Gehring and Fencsik, 2001) and regional changes observed prior to errors in fMRI (Li et al., 2007; Eichele et al., 2008) there are a variety of features in the EEG signal that provide predictive information about upcoming RACC (Hajcak et al., 2005; Padilla et al., 2006; Cavanagh et al., 2009; Mazaheri et al., 2009; O'Connell et al., 2009). Future studies should clarify whether the diverse phenomenology describes aspects of the same underlying functional system or reflects multiple concurrent effects. For error prediction in real-world situations, it would be desirable to understand the effects of performance (mal-) adaptation on event-related and induced activities as well as connectivity to have multiple redundant features available that can be employed for classification.
In summary, we note that a combination of data mining and modeling on a trial-by-trial level helps to better understand the dynamics of the cognitive process under investigation and we hope this approach to analysis and inference becomes the rule rather than the exception in cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging (Makeig et al., 2004; Debener et al., 2006; Onton et al., 2006). In this particular case we show that one antecedent of errors is indeed generated by the branch of the cognitive control system that is in charge of monitoring them.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
This paper provides a detail report of some of the data presented by the authors at the Opinions and Discussions on Cognitive Neuroscience symposium held in Amsterdam (10/26-10/27 2009). The work was supported by a Nevronor grant from the Norwegian Research council (189661) to Tom Eichele. Tom Eichele and Markus Ullsperger conceived the experiments; Heike Eichele, Hilde T Juvodden and undergraduate RA's collected the data; Heike Eichele and Tom Eichele analyzed the data; Heike Eichele, Hilde T Juvodden, Markus Ullsperger and Tom Eichele co-wrote the paper. We thank our undergraduate research assistants Aleksander H. Erga, Eva Sunde, Katrine V. Granli, Christer Lunde Gjerstad, Ingrid Langøen Bull-Tornøe, Agnethe Smith Wiker, Pia E. Lyse, Branca Vojnovic, Camilla Lindgren and Marius Kalsås Worren for their help with data collection. We are indebted to Marco Steinhauser for helpful discussions. The data and analysis functions for trial sequence analysis are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Keywords: performance monitoring, errors, event-related EEG, independent component analysis, single trial analysis, deconvolution
Citation: Eichele H, Juvodden HT, Ullsperger M and Eichele T (2010) Mal-adaptation of event-related EEG responses preceding performance errors. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 4:65. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2010.00065
Received: 18 May 2010;
Paper pending published: 02 June 2010;
Accepted: 21 July 2010; Published online: 10 August 2010
Edited by:Michael X. Cohen, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Reviewed by:James F. Cavanagh, Université Paris Descartes, France
Ali Mazaheri, University of California at Davis, USA
Copyright: © 2010 Eichele, Juvodden, Ullsperger and Eichele. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence: Tom Eichele, Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies Vei 91, 5009 Bergen, Norway. e-mail: email@example.com


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Read the Story of Baby Tula
by Priscilla Parra, social media manager at Baby Tula
The story of Baby Tula began when founders, Ula and Mike, met in the U.S. Each had a strong desire to travel and see the world and set out on many adventures. While they explored the world, their family grew with the birth of their daughter. At that time, they experienced how convenient babywearing was and how much it benefits both parent and baby.
A few years later, their son was born and they tried many different carriers—never finding one that completely met their needs. They enlisted the help of their Ba Noi (Vietnamese for Grandma) to help sew a carrier designed to their own specifications. And, the rest is history!
Today, Baby Tula is proud to be at the forefront of the modern babywearing movement. It combines style, quality, bold designs, and ergonomic positioning, to help families keep doing what they love with popular and stylish baby carriers, woven wraps, ring slings, and baby blankets.
A love for Baby Tula products has ignited a passionate community of families across the world. Through online groups and local meet-ups, Tula carriers have created a community of mothers, fathers, and other caregivers who connect and share joy over babywearing, and specifically Baby Tula's newest products, releases, and other special moments.
A variety of online community groups have formed to allow for followers of Baby Tula to discuss upcoming releases, favorite prints and designs, and ask questions. The online community has become a welcoming place for new mothers and families to make connections extending beyond their love of Tula. Many have also found other common interests and a way to embrace a new identify.
Baby Tula fan groups have started all over the world, from our local San Diego group all the way to Singapore. Regular meet ups and tip-sharing through independently organized Facebook groups help to create friendship and bonding.
Recently, we were so honored to learn that the largest online community of Tula fans (Tula Love) organized a day to celebrate their love for Tula carriers and the friends that it can create. There were over 100 playdates across the world, including Australia, India, Mexico and Canada. In an effort to bring over 78,000 Tula Love members to meet in person, the Tula Love playdates helped people make connections worldwide and with their local babywearers over a common love of Baby Tula.
Check out Baby Tula at Maletzky Media's Babypalooza on July 14!

subset: commoncrawl


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Trivest Announces LubeZone, a New TGIF Platform Investment
MIAMI, FL – (January 9, 2019) Trivest Partners ("Trivest") announces it has made an investment in LubeZone, Inc. ("LubeZone" or "the Company"). The LubeZone transaction represents the 6th platform company investment in the Trivest Growth Investment Fund ("TGIF"), a $225 million fund dedicated to making growth and non-control investments in founder/family-owned businesses. LubeZone is a fast-growing network of preventative maintenance centers focused on oil changes and other rapid services for heavy and medium duty trucks. The Company provides preventative services to over-the-road trucks in...Read More
ASB Sports Acquisition, Inc. Announces Three Add-On Acquisitions
MIAMI, FL – (September 28, 2018) Trivest Partners ("Trivest") today announced that its affiliate, Athletic Supply/Barcelona Sporting Goods ("Athletic Supply" or the "Company") has partnered with Williams' Sporting Goods ("WSG"), Cardinal's Sports Center ("Cardinal's"), and Team Sports, Inc. ("TSO"). These acquisitions will serve to broaden the Company's product lines, build density in existing markets, deepen relationships with key vendors, grow the Company's sales coverage network, and expand into the attractive Midwest geographic region. The key executives of each partner company are...Read More
Trivest Announces First Investment of Fund VI with GAL Power Systems
MIAMI, FL – (August 21, 2018) Trivest Partners ("Trivest") announces it has recapitalized GAL Power Systems ("GAL Power" or the "Company"). This transaction marks the 1st platform investment of Trivest Fund VI. GAL Power is a leading Canadian provider of commercial and industrial generator sets and climate control systems. Headquartered in Ottawa, the Company operates out of 8 facilities across Ontario and Quebec. GAL Power has four primary business segments: Sales, Service, Rental and Fuel Services, all of which work together to provide customers with integrated power solutions for both...Read More
Trivest Announces Fayette Heating & Air, an Add-on Acquisition for Dauenhauer Plumbing
LOUISVILLE, KY – (June 1, 2018) Dauenhauer Plumbing, a portfolio company of Trivest Partners, announces it has acquired Fayette Heating & Air ("Fayette" or the "Company"), a leading provider of HVAC and plumbing services in Lexington, KY. Fayette significantly bolsters Dauenhauer's service offering in Lexington with a very well respected brand that has been in operation since 1971. With over 15,000 service jobs performed annually, Fayette adds meaningful scale to Dauenhauer's service offering and provides a larger platform to attract more plumbing & HVAC service technicians. Fayette...Read More
Trivest Announces Big Truck Rental, a New TGIF Platform Investment
MIAMI, FL – (June 1, 2018) Trivest Partners ("Trivest") announces it has made an investment in Big Truck Rental, LLC ("BTR" or "the Company"). The BTR transaction represents the 4th platform company investment in the Trivest Growth Investment Fund ("TGIF"), a $225 million fund dedicated to making growth and non-control investments in founder/family-owned businesses. BTR is the largest provider of rental garbage trucks serving public, private and municipality waste haulers throughout the United States and Canada. Based in Tampa, Florida, this founder-owned company oversees a fleet of 300+...Read More
Trivest Announces Louis Wohl and Sons, Inc., an Add-on Acquisition for BJ Beltram
TAMPA, FL – (May 14, 2018) BJ Beltram, Inc., a portfolio company of Trivest Partners, announces it has acquired Louis Wohl and Sons, Inc. ("Louis Wohl" or the "Company"). Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Tampa, FL, Louis Wohl provides equipment, supplies, and design services to the foodservice industry. Over the Company's 120 year history, it has grown both organically and through acquisitions to become a leader in its served markets. Louis Wohl's services include design/build capabilities, foodservice design consultancy and the wholesale distribution of supplies and equipment to...Read More


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tv ABC World News With Diane Sawyer ABC December 10, 2012 5:30pm-6:00pm PST
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should they go to jail for a joke? >> i don't think that anyone could have foreseen what was going to happen. and, take a look at this. baby strokes. watch the tiny infants backstroke all the way across the pool. how did they learn to do that? good evening. we begin with the biggest economic news today, for the american family budget. the price of gasoline is plunging. an announcement so dramatic, the experts are calling it the gas crash. late this afternoon, this is what the department of energy said. the average price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped 50 cents, in just two months. today, the average is $3.35 and it could drop even more before new years.
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abc's sharyn alfonsi is here to tell us how much and why. >> reporter: it's the type of crash motorists love. gas prices plummeting. in boston, $3.59. atlanta, $3.79. salt lake, $3.40, and l.a., $3.68. the trip home for the holidays just got a lot cheaper. >> i'm thrilled! i mean, i have to buy gas no matter what, so, the fact that it costs a little bit less is great. especially with christmas and everything coming up. >> reporter: prices began rebounding after the refinery problems were fixed. add to that, demand for gasoline down for winter. analyst now think gas prices could fall even further before new years eve. >> by christmas, we should have prices between $3.20 per gallon and $3.40 per gallon. >> reporter: the good news comes on the heels of a game-changing headline from the internal energy agency. they predict the u.s. will be energy independent by 2030. and become the world's largest
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exporter of oil, surpassing counties like saudi arabia, venezuela, nigeria and even iran. solar, wind and a backyard oil boom has changed the global landscape, and the landscape on our own backyards. we saw it first-hand in kansas. new technologies unearthing previously untapped oil reserves there and across the u.s. the effects already being felt well beyond the gas pump. >> this unconventional revolution in oil and natural gas is already having a big impact on the united states. it has created something like 1.7 million jobs in the last few years. >> reporter: and consider this. the economists at moody's tell us, if gas prices drop another 50 cents this year, it will create another 350,000 jobs by this time next year. and in the next few months, pending no major disruptions, we could seal our grocery bills and the cost of medicines, many of them made out of petroleum, come down, too. >> sharyn alfonsi, thank you so much. and now we turn to see, for
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the first time, the face of courage in the news. the navy s.e.a.l. who died in the daring rescue mission in afghanistan. the mission successfully freed a doctor who was part of a faith-based relief group. the price, a member of s.e.a.l. team 6. and abc's senior foreign affairs correspondent martha raddatz tells us now about the decision to send in the best. >> reporter: nicolas checque was just 28 years old, but for much of the last decade, he had been a navy s.e.a.l. the last five years, a part of the elite s.e.a.l. team 6. in iraq, afghanistan, wherever he was needed, checque carried out dangerous missions. just like the one that took his life on sunday. it was just before 3:00 a.m. when checque and his team, along with afghan commandos, loaded into helicopters and headed in the darkness to a remote mountaintop location in eastern afghanistan. down below, taliban fighters
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were holding dilip joseph, a relief worker and father of four from colorado, kidnapped leaving a rural medical clinic just days before. the hard-charging, highly trained s.e.a.l. team moved in quickly, to a group of huts where joseph was being held. gun fire broke out. joseph was rescued, but the young navy s.e.a.l. took a bullet to the head. the decision to go in so quickly was made by the top commander in afghanistan, general john allen, who thought joseph was in immediate danger. >> the race was on. because at that point, they knew if they couldn't get him before he was taken over the border into pakistan, that it would be almost impossible to rescue him. >> reporter: there have been hundreds of successful missions by the s.e.a.l.s, including the raid that killed osama bin laden. but the missions remain unpredictable and dangerous, as defense secretary leon panetta said today, "the special operators knew they were putting their lives on the line."
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the former hostage, dilip joseph, will likely return to the u.s. by this weekend. his family issued a statement tonight, extending their deepest condolences and gratitude to all those involved in the mission. diane? >> thank you so much, martha raddatz reporting in. and now, we go overseas to syria. the rebels still on the move, near the capital damascus. the assad regime, still corralling its chemical weapons. and abc's alex marquardt got a call to travel at night and meet with a defector, who knows about those weapons. a former general in the ruling regime. >> reporter: the rebels have taken the fight to syria's biggest cities. today, battling near assad's stronghold, his palace in damascus. while fighters have overrun one of the regime's largest military bases, outside the city of aleppo. american officials say they fear the likelihood of assad using chemical weapons is rising and say they have proof they've been prepared. we went to meet a man who shares those fears.
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driving along a dark, back country reed near turkey's border with syria. his name is adnan sillou. he told us that until 2008, he was a chief of staff in the chemical weapons program. he said he worked on the defense side, in charge of preparing troops for dealing with attacks and safety equipment. what specific chemical weapons does the assad regime have? he said, "they have mustard gas, along with the highly toxic nerve agents vx, sarin and tabun." the regime has started to fall and deteriorate, he argues. it's highly possible assad will start using chemical weapons to kill his own people. >> i think it's a last ditch effort and one that they don't want to use but are increasingly considering it. >> reporter: if the regime crumbles, the u.s. fears the weapons could be transferred to hezbollah, or fall into the hands of groups like al qaeda. knowing what you do about the facilities, the security, do you worry that these weapons will fall into the wrong hands?
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"yes," he said. "there's an extremely big concern they'll fall into other hands." sillou says he was interviewed by the cia when he left syria. now, he's pleading for the u.s. to give him money and weapons so that he can lead a brigade of fighters back into syria and secure those sites. diane? >> thank you so much, alex. now, we want to tell you the late news about a record fine against a prominent bank, after a startling series of charges. the british banking giant hsbc, about to pay big time. after allegations of money laundering, linked to iran and mexican drug cartels. "the new york times" reports a record settlement. $1.9 billion to be announced tomorrow. and now, a storm blasting the upper midwest of the united states. what a difference a week makes. it was a mild 62 degrees in minneapolis last week, and now a massive storm has dumped nearly 16 inches in the twin cities. more snow in one day than they
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expect in a month. it was a slippery, sliding mess on the roads. hundreds of snow-related car wrecks across both minnesota and wisconsin. and now, the news of the shocking death of a rising star in latin america, just about to receive her dream of taking on north american tv, right here on abc. singer jenni rivera died in a plane crash on her way to a concert in mexico. and here's abc's david wright on her turbulent life story and her huge success. ♪ >> reporter: she was known as the "diva of banda" -- mexico's answer to country music. today, on spanish language radio, tearful tributes to jenni rivera, after her private plane crashed yesterday en route to a concert. her california driver's license found in the wreckage. >> her death is a huge loss. she was a role model to many young latinas, having gone from
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rags to riches, being a self-made millionaire. >> reporter: in record sales alone here in the u.s., she was bigger than beyonce. i've heard her described as the mexican-american dolly parton? >> she was -- you know, she had curves. and she embraced those curves. that's what people loved about her. >> reporter: rivera had several popular reality shows, that promoted her as "the mama with lots of drama." shows that featured the whole family -- five kids and two grandkids. the osbournes of the barrio. >> she was a personality. she was a businesswoman. she was beginning to cross over into the english language market. >> reporter: abc was developing a comedy series around her, which would have introduced her to a whole new audience. now, sadly, many english speakers are just learning about her because of this outpouring of grief. david wright, abc news, los angeles. and we also have news tonight about a big breakthrough
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in the treatment of cancer, using hiv as a weapon against cancerous cells. the treatment is being presented now at the american society of hematology. only a dozen patients have tried it. but listen to what happened to one little girl. here's abc's chief health and medical editor, dr. richard besser. >> reporter: emma whitehead's leukemia seemed undefeatable. no treatments left. and she was only 6. then, in april, a last gamble. using hiv to cure, not kill. doctors took out millions of emma's disease-fighting white blood cells. then, used a genetically altered hiv virus, which is great at getting into human immune systems, to change those cells into targeted cancer fighters. emma's cells went back in and destroyed the cancer. dr. stephan grupp is a pioneer using hiv to infiltrate the immune system. >> all of the things that make the hiv virus able to cause disease have been removed from
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this particular virus, so, its only purpose is to put a gene into a cell. for me, it's incredibly exciting. >> reporter: here's emma, just eight months later. doctors can't find any remaining cancer cells. >> she is in a complete remission. she has no leukemia in her body by any test that we can do. even the most sensitive tests. >> she has a ton of energy. she's doing wonderful right now. >> this treatment was a miracle. >> reporter: emma is counting the days till christmas. her parents are busy counting their blessings. now, the treatment does wipe out part of her immune system, so, she has to receive medication once a week to prevent infection. but she's feeling strong and she's back in the second grade. >> oh, it's so wonderful to see her like that. what about the other of the dozen now, just one dozen, who had it? were they also successful? >> reporter: seven of them had a great response. three of them in complete remission. but not everyone. researchers are looking to see, why does it work in some but not in others?
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but the whole idea of using a virus to deliver treatment for a disease is absolutely fantastic. >> it is great and being presented now, as we said. thank you so much, rich. and still ahead here on "world news," a tearful apology, from the deejays behind that tragic royal prank. but was this stunt just the latest in a string by others that have gone too far? next. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪
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prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. then i read an article about a study that looked at the long term health benefits of taking multivitamins. they used centrum silver for the study... so i guess my wife was right. [ male announcer ] centrum. always your most complete.
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tonight, we're learning more about the australian deejays who have given a tearful apology for pretending to be royals. the prank call that prompted a tragedy. abc news has confirmed that their show has been canceled, but it turns out their station has drawn fire before, for pranks that pushed the boundaries. abc's cecilia vega on the news tonight. >> i wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry. >> reporter: the australian deejays behind that prank heard around the world have come out of hiding and told leading australian news magazine "a current affair" they want forgiveness and understanding. >> i don't think anyone could have expected or foreseen what was going to happen. >> hello, good morning, king edward vii hospital? >> oh, hello there, could i
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please speak to kate, please, my granddaughter. >> oh, yes, just hold on, ma'am. >> thank you. >> reporter: now, following the apparent suicide of that pranked nurse, jacintha saldanha, a mother of two, the deejays are facing global backlash. but will they actually face any legal charges? >> there's likely there's going to be a finding that they violated a state law about using a recording device. but it is very unlikely that they will be held criminally responsible for her death. >> reporter: here in australia, scotland yard has already contacted the police over the royal hoax. those deejays could face questioning. but they're already on trial in the court of public opinion. >> the thought that we may have played apart in this -- gut wrenching. >> reporter: their station has come under fire before. once, for convincing a woman her mother was injured and needed to go to the hospital. in another segment, where they tried to get a 14-year-old girl to talk about her sex life, wearing a lie detector, she revealed she'd been raped. this time around, higher ups
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approved the prank to kate middleton's hospital room. lawyers even vetted it. >> we're confident that we've broken no rules. >> i'm more worried about the family. and that's where the focus should be. >> reporter: a call for compassion, but is it coming too late? cecilia vega, abc news, sydney, australia. and, coming up next here, do not miss the water babies. 9 months old, already synchronized swimming? they are in our "instant index," splashing through tonight.
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of washington about the future of medicare and social security. anncr: but you deserve straight talk about the options on the... table and what they mean for you and your family. ancr: aarp is cutting through all the political spin. because for our 37 million members, only one word counts. get the facts at earnedasay.org. let's keep medicare... and social security strong for generations to come. very sore looking kinda blistery. it was like a red rash... like somebody had set a bag of hot charcoal on my neck. i was a firefighter for 24 years.
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but, i have never encountered such a burning sensation until i had the shingles. i remember it well. i was in the back yard doing yard work. i had this irritation going on in my lower neck. i changed shirts because i thought there was something in the collar of the shirt irritating my neck. and i couldn't figure out what was going on. i had no idea it came from chickenpox. i always thought shingles was associated with people... a lot older than myself. i can tell you from experience, it is bad. it's something you never want to encounter. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com
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and here's what bolted to the top of our "instant index" this monday. meet the lucky arizona man who won that $192 million in the lottery. he is 37-year-old matthew good, who finally came forward, saying he's not quitting his job at an electronics company. by the way, he and his wife are so concerned about the looming fiscal cliff, he's taking his money as a lump sum, in case those higher taxes arrive next year. and coming up now, a snapshot we could not resist. and so many of you tweeted it to me today. thank you very much. it's one very stylish little monkey in a winter coat, wandering through an ikea store in toronto. he started out in the parking lot after escaping his cage. a woman who spotted him said she thought she was going insane. then, the staff gently lured the
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monkey into the store, where it was captured and the owners have been found, fined and have some explaining to do. and, now, we turn to that video, the amazing swimming wonder twins. they are only 9 months old, too young to walk or talk, but look what ellie and william trykush can do in the water. they can already swim the entire length of a 25-foot pool, by themselves. the two of them were only 4 months old when they mother, a swim instructor, introduced them to the pool and noticed that they were not afraid to swim under water. and naturally knew how to hold their breath. the proof of happiness in their pictures, contented smiles on their baby faces. by the way, she would swim underneath them, watching them, to see how naturally they took to the water. and their father says he has his idea, that they're going to show up in the 2028 olympic games. and we really do want to hear
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what captures your imagination every day. keep tweeting me your thoughts for "instant index," @dianesawyer. and coming up next here, a veteran back from afghanistan, looking for a job, and with the help of our bob woodruff, a movie legend steps in to give him the surprise of a lifetime. there's the sign to the bullpen. here he comes. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job, the pitch! whoa! so why are you doing his? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid-related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. . . let your doctor do his job. and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you.
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if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. you won't take our future. aids affects us all. even babies. chevron is working to stop mother-to-child transmission. our employees and their families are part of the fight. and we're winning. at chevron nigeria, we haven't had a reported case in 12 years. aids is strong. aids is strong. but we are stronger. and aids... ♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. ♪ anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. if you're a man with low testosterone, you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underarm.
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axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com.
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and finally tonight, our bob woodruff is here with what grateful americans can do for those who served the country. more than 200,000 troops are expected to retire from the military this year, and many of them are looking for a friend and mentor in their new careers. and, one of them found the mentor of his dreams. our abc news series, "standing up for heroes." >> reporter: 32-year-old gabriel posey, a staff sergeant in the army, just returned from the sands of afghanistan. but now, here, in los angeles, he's about to get a huge surprise. what he knows is that he's been matched up with a mentor to help him get a start in the field he has dreamed about much of his life -- screenwriting. what he doesn't know is that his mentor is one of the biggest names in hollywood. >> your brothers were killed in
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combat. great thing about so many people in the military is, man, they are really good at solving problems. those people are worth their weight in precious metals. >> reporter: what would be the number one thing you would tell to gabriel about getting into the film industry? >> okay. you have got to say, i know who i am, i know what my skills are and i'm in this for -- i'm in this for the long haul. perseverance. it all comes down to that. >> reporter: i told gabriel that his mentor wasn't really well known. just someone with connections. i lied. i'm going to show you who this is. i think you'll be very happy to see who it is. >> oh! wow. no way. i love tom hanks! >> gabriel! how are you? what a pleasure. nice to see you. you have to call me tom. >> reporter: so, with a pot of tea, the sergeant got a chance to learn from this actor, writer, producer and more? >> have you ever tasted failure while working and how did you deal with it? >> oh, yeah.
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you as a writer, you are going to write things that no one is going to get or understand and you cannot let that get in your way. >> reporter: now, gabriel is making plans to move to hollywood, to stay in touch with his mentor and hopefully to fulfill his lifelong dream. bob woodruff, abc news, los angeles. >> i'm in the right place. i tell you that much. >> more about mentors and the troops at abcnews.com/heroes. and we thank you for watching on this monday. "nightline" later. and here's a happy sight. the christmas tree lighting in downtown reno, nevada, courtesy of our abc affiliate, kolo-8 news now. and hello to everybody in reno, from us. and a good night to you.
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tonight a bizarre crime, a couple found bound and gagged in the street. new information from police now investigating a murder. >> a neighborhood dispute over the former oakland army base tonight objections people are raising over floornz a new jobs center. >> late word from the family of singer jenni rivera, dead in a plane crash, her brother is holding out hope. >> and a teenager tacked for wanting girls to attend schools. some people have taken up her cause. >> this street is where two people were found tied up and wounded, victims of a crime still unsolved tonight, still has not been explained, either. >> it is a puzzling history. who attacked and gagged and
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bound two young people, dumping them in the street near mcclairen park. one victim died from his injuries. we are live with the latest on this investigation. vic? >> that young victim is in intensive care here in the hospital fighting for her life. a police tell us they have yet to identify her or the male victim, they're waiting for the medical examiner to tell us what caused that young man's death.écçí÷ >> any time there are two victims gagged and bound in the street, left for dead, it probably happens in the movies a lot but in real life, very not seen this a lot. >> the two found by a passing driver on the 900 block of brusselses street at 8:30 last night. police say the man was in his early 20s. the female, in her late teens. the trauma was so severe,
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Weight Gain, High Blood Pressure and Low Energy
When people ask me how I found out about Multi-Care Holistic Health Center, I truthfully tell them that Jesus sent me here! I had struggled for about eight years with what I thought was a thyroid disorder, gaining weight, feeling lethargic, losing hair and other disheartening symptoms. Medical doctors had tested my thyroid levels more than once, only to tell me that my thyroid was normal. I would go through periods of exercise, diet and limitation only to lose five pounds that I would quickly regain.
Finally, I began regular exercise, losing 15 pounds. I thought I had a handle on it. Then I was injured in an automobile accident, and the resulting injuries left me unable to exercise, quickly gaining 20 pounds. I spent months in physical therapy. The doctor put me on blood pressure medication for pressures of 140/90 and above. The pain was a constant daily companion. As a nurse, I knew the yo- yo weight I was experiencing
was terrible for me. I also knew that I had become addicted to carbohydrates, and the end result of that path would be diabetes, a devastating disease process. I would find myself coming home from work, standing in front of the pantry and pulling out chips, bread, sweets, knowing it wasn't what I needed but unable to stop myself from eating them. I felt terrible and I looked terrible.
On a mission trip with my church, the Lord let me know this needed to change. I was willing, but knew I couldn't do it on my own. I began praying that I could find the right help. It didn't happen immediately, but when the answer came I knew it was the one He intended for me. My husband had cleaned up the yard and laid one of the local papers that get thrown in the neighborhood on the kitchen counter. I was cleaning the kitchen, getting ready to throw it out, the article from Multi-Care Holistic Health Center caught my eye. I read it several times and then I went to the website and began reading. It was as if I had written the list of symptoms myself! I scheduled the consultation appointment.
I have been with Multi-Care Holistic Health Center for just over three months. I have lost 25 pounds! I've gone from a size 16 to a size 10! I'm off of my blood pressure medication (with my Doctors blessing) and running blood pressures of 110/60! Those are great, but more importantly, I found a group of people that believe like I do …that God created our bodies to function in a certain way, and if we help them get to their best health, they will work as they were created to do! I am no longer suffering with carbohydrate addiction. I eat great foods all day long. I feel better than I have in years!
Yesterday, I was with my three newest grandchildren, ages 21 months, 20 months and 2 months. We had lunch together and then played outside for over an hour, running around. I was picking them up and playing with them and I didn't get tired! That is one of the greatest benefits of being on this program…feeling good enough, having energy enough to be with the people I love.
The staff at Multi-Care Holistic Health Center is great! From Dr. Tom's great explanations, to Dr. Dave's smiling face and regular encouragement, to Gina's great recipes, to the enthusiastic voices that remind me on the phone of upcoming appointments and welcome me each time I step through the front door, I feel like I am visiting friends, not going to the doctors office.
Everyone has noticed the changes in me! They all want to know the "trick" and "how hard "it is. It's no trick. It a great plan of individualized care that helps me be the "Best Me" I can be! And while the initial detox was no picnic, I can look at the big picture and say I am on my way to the best health in my life, so it's worth the occasional; struggle.
Thank God for his leading me to Multi-Care Holistic Health Center and for the great people he is using there to change my life in such positive ways.
Vicki Parker, RN
Monroe, GA


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Thon Studio Producer Desk 12U
Table for studio use
- Ideal studio table if less rack space and more table surface area is called for
- Lots of space for small tools, sound generators and gadgets
- 6 U of rack space per side (total of 12 U)
- Mounting shelf for nearfield monitors above the racks (55.5 x 20 cm each)
- Bevellled racks improve ergonomics and minimise studio monitor sound reflections towards the seating area
- Cable trays are both in the racks, as well as under the table top
- 3 x Cable passage via cable holes on the table top
- Racks can be set up individually (without table top) and used
- Height of the main worktop: 74.5 cm
- Incl. Rack screws
- Wood: Oak and lacquered plywood
- Colour: Oak/Anthrazite
- Overall dimensions (W x H x D): 268.4 x 96.7 x 93.5 cm
- Changes to the tabletop and colour are possible with an additional surcharge
- Can also by prior arrangement before ordering be fitted with a cutout for DAW controller/mixer or keyboard
- Made in Germany
Smart Navigator
- Thon Studio Furniture at a glance
- Display Studio Furniture from € 1500 - € 2000
- Go to product group Studio Furniture
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- Thon Studio and Recording Equipment at a glance
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Offers include 24% Greek VAT and are valid as long as stocks last. Shipping costs to Greece are 20 EUR, free shipping on orders above 298 EUR. Please click here for international Shipping rates. We do not accept liability for typographical errors or inaccurate information of any kind. *RRP = manufacturer's / distributor's recommended retail price in Germany
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Privilege or Privileged
A Video Installation
Our body is the beginning of all experiences, the one aspect of ourselves and our identity that others get to experience first. Our bodies also belong to a world of social constructs, a world that we aren't fully in control of, but a world that we all must navigate. The social construct persuades our mind to divide the unique and indivisible part of ourselves into small pieces that can then fit in a social category. In today's America, being Black or White is a primordial question that social construct has erected before us. Having privilege or not seemingly emanates from that basic racial categorization rigidly created to reinforce privilege.
From privilege a series of assumptions flow unrestricted. Deeply-rooted assumptions that engender indelible stereotypes in our collective unconsciousness. Our existence is on one hand defined by the very real constructed experience of privilege, and on the other hand determined by our body, not as an arbitrary biological assignment, but as a symbol and incarnation of privilege or lack thereof. Privilege or Privileged is the first part of a series of space installations created to provide a meditative space to think about the construct of privilege. In this iteration black and brown women are the focus. Their voices describe a kind of experience within the privilege construct and the visual immerses the viewer to recreate the feeling of what privilege induces.


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Trakmaster custom builds to meet the personal requirements of our clients, to design and produce the ideal van for your particular needs. We spend time with you discussing your requirements and combine your ideas with our experience. Together, we design a van that reflects your individual style.
From the compact Sturt models to the medium-sized Kimberley and larger Nullarbor and Simpson, there are over one hundred floor plan suggestions to assist the van design process. All Nullarbor and Simpson layouts can be incorporated in a Tanami style. We will create a van just for you!
Always Check the relevant Details on the Original Website:


text: Artwork aside this is a great post! Ever since Torae & Guilty got together on "Stomp" from 2009's "Double Barrel the people (present company included) have been thirsty for more. Well with Guilty & Apollo Brown's "Dice Game" the thirst is quenched. Potatoes is a hard hitting banger from Guilt & Brown that features Torae doing what he does best, beasting. Be sure to check the jam & cop that "Dice Game" HERE.


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Last night, I traded in some of my birthday and Christmas money for a class card at Space Coast Ballet so I could take adult ballet classes. Monday nights at 6:30, you can join the beginner's class to learn the basics of ballet. My plan is to take a few of these classes to refine my physical abilities and to re-familiarize myself with ballet "lingo". Then I am wanting to leap into the daytime adult class with the regulars, and hope that I can keep up with those ladies! If you follow my blog regularly, you know I am a runner. I run about 3-4 times a week. However, just to put running and ballet into perspective for me:
Running- I love, but Ballet- ♥ I LOVE ♥


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Under the Sheets...
There are definitely times when less is more. La Perla is wonderful, but there's something to be said for the simplicity of a white sheet. I've got White Sheet Sessions going on all month long for September.
If you've been wanting to come in for a session but were afraid you don't have the "body" for such a thing, or were afraid you'd hate the photos, this is an excellent way to dip your toe into the waters of fine art boudoir photography.
Come in for a little primping while sipping a glass of bubbly, slip into something more comfortable to wear under the sheets, or nothing at all, and let me guide into you some seriously sexy photos.
You'll get to view your photos same-day and choose your favorite photo for your mounted fine art print. Of course, you have the opportunity to buy more but there's no obligation to purchase. For complete pricing, click HERE and navigate to the bottom of the page. Enter your email and you will receive a link to download.
If you're ready to slip under the sheets, click the button below to complete a short form and book online:


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Sold for $2,359,000
on Jun 7, 2019
NEW ROOF & LOWER LEVEL HVAC! This FULLY REMODELED waterfront home in The Point Village is a dream! Gorgeous Lake Norman views with light & bright open floor plan. The gourmet kitchen features new top of the line Sub Zero and Wolf appliances, quartz countertops & a huge center island. Main level study with built-ins flanking each side of the room. Owner's suite on main with fully updated bath. Two large laundry rooms, one on the main with a drop zone, the other on the 2nd level. Just off of the kitchen is the outdoor entertaining space, covered with a tall wood-lined barrel ceiling & features a grill, pizza oven, fireplace & wet bar with beverage cooler. Plenty of flexibility up stairs with 4 full bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, exercise, recreation & bonus room. The lake level has entertainment space with wet bar, climate controlled wine cellar, media room & full lake bath. Plenty of storage! Gorgeous lake views, private pier w/seating, sandy beach. This home has all you want & more!
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The redevelopment of Gaien House, a condominium located just south of the new Olympic Stadium site, is expected to be completed by May 2020. Obayashi Corporation has been chosen by the owners association as the construction company.
The new building will be 23-storeys and 86 meters tall with a total floor area of 60,000 sqm. In addition to apartments, it will also have a nursery, retail and car parking.
*Update: The new condominium will be called The Court Jingu-Gaien and will have 409 apartments, of which 180 will be made available for sale. Sales are scheduled to begin in October 2018. Apartment sizes will range from 70 ~ 310 sqm.
27 total views, 3 views today


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From Park Walk - Established 1967
01273 917870
01273 917870
£15.00 £8.00
£15.00 £8.00
You're searching for a practical gym backpack, a drawstring backpack to use to stash your gym kit. But you're not keen on the sporty ones. This is much more your style, a hippy classic of a drawstring bag tie dyed in a choice of colour-ways, designed to help you stand out from the crowd. Nice and large, good and strong, with a practical drawstring closure, it's embellished with a flowing tattoo-like dragon pattern to finish the design off to perfection.
Width: 32CM
Height: 41CM
This item has now been discontinued please click here for other items.
Product Code: JD/BG/8339R


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That headline is really negative, isn't it?
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword made me grunt and turned me off from the moment I saw its first trailer. For some reason, there was a light of hope in my gut that director Guy Ritchie would bake moviegoers a treat and add his signature touch to the age-old tale.
Well, this film has its fair share of Ritchie moments, but it isn't enough to save the film from being anything but mediocre.
Charlie Hunnam has become a real likable actor in Hollywood as of late, especially with his role in The Lost City of Z that's being touted as career-defining. Hunnam's role in King Arthur has him staring as the titular character, a direct contrast of Jude Law's role as Vortigern, the irate king of the Blacklegs. Both can carry their own when they're not on-screen together, but I think Hunnam outshines Law in this one. That's not saying much, however, amidst a relatively lackluster supporting cast that includes the scene-squasher Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, who plays the Mage and consistently fails on her line delivery.
King Arthur begins as a story we're not exactly unfamiliar with: King Uther (Eric Bana) is seen fighting mages alongside his brother, Vortigern, in an effort to protect his kingdom. The action on display is OK, but I feel the fighting is much cleaner and ages better with time. Uther and his wife are seen risking their lives for their son when Arthur is put on a boat that eventually ends up at a brothel in Londinium. This is when fans get their first taste of Ritchie's touch on the fabled tale.
Ritchie isn't the only one leaving a lasting impression on moments in this film, though, as cinematographer John Mathieson (Gladiator, X-Men: First Class, Kingdom of Heaven) delivers on delightful, sometimes even breathtaking, visuals that really immerse the viewer.
During the opening credits, a quick montage of events take place (Ritchie moments!), and it's … a headache, honestly. I welcome the witty narration tracked over past events in this film, a la Sherlock Holmes, but an annoying choice of music over events that quickly depicted Arthur's upbringing was two minutes too long. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only instance of poor music, as the lead-up to the big battle was squandered by a terrible remix of Sam Lee's The Wild Wild Berry.
You're strapped in for the long run, though, so giving this a chance to at least produce a bit of fun is all you can do as a moviegoer. Luckily, the second act of the film really does provide King Arthur's best moments. There are unique camera angles during fight sequences, attention to detail during chaotic moments of battle and a clean Daniel Pemberton score. If only the second act were embodied by the rest of the two-hour film, I think it would be put over the mediocre mark.
The film's latter half suffered from borderline terrible CGI I figured would get better with time, as the action did. When a film on an estimated $102 million budget cannot render a realistic-looking vulture, or even make ripples in a cup of mead look like actual ripples, you have an issue. When a film cuts corners on visual effects and pours money into a sword, large elephants and snakes, you get relatively crummy CGI found in King Arthur. And, please, don't get me started on CGI Hunnam during the first of many fight scenes with his sword, Excalibur.
If it were not for Hunnam and welcoming cameos that end up being lasting characters, such as Aidan Gillen and Djimon Hounsou (who turned out decent performances themselves), this film would've made me a lot more disappointed. Alas, I can't recommend practically anyone to see this film outside of a cheap matinee showing or a rental when the time comes.
But, hey, at least Hunnam is beginning to prove himself as a worthy and likable lead in films. I'm looking at you, Lost City of Z. Not you, Pacific Rim. Sit down.
I was treated to an early screening and thank Warner Bros. for the opportunity. ❤
'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' has a PG-13 rating (yes, it uses the F-word once) and a runtime of two hours and six minutes.
It releases in North America on May 12, 2017.


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I opened a Roth IRA in 2009 with $5,000. This year, at the age 26, I have to withdraw the $5,000. What fee, taxes or penalties will I incur?
Generally speaking, you can withdraw contributions (but not earnings) from a Roth IRA at any time, without fees or penalties. For more specific tax advice, consult an accountant or financial advisor.


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SAFRAN to provide resupply services for KC-135 aerial refueling tankers
A KC-135 Stratotanker, from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., arrives on the flight line at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Sept. 12, 2018. Photo by Airman 1st Class Lillian Miller/U.S. Air Force
Oct. 4 (UPI) — SAFRAN Landing Systems has received a $220.2 million contract for KC-135 landing systems remanufacture and supply.
The contract, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, provides for 10 years of refit and resupply for KC-135 heat shields, main wheel, carbon brake, torque tube adjuster, assembly and piston housing.
Work will be performed in Vélizy-Villacoublay, France, and is expected to be complete by September 2028. No funds are being obligated at the time of award.
The KC-135 Stratotanker is the primary aerial refueling platform for the United States Air Force and has been operational with upgrades for more than 60 years.
Aerial refueling extends Air Force aircraft ranges allowing greater endurance. It also provides aerial refueling to Navy, Marine Corps and allied aircraft. The KC-135 is also capable of medical evacuations and medical pallet supply.
The KC-135 can carry up to 83,000 pounds of cargo including passengers. There are currently 396 of the aircraft in service with the Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
The plane is expected to be replaced by the similar but more modern KC-46 Pegasus due to aging and obsolescence.