E-wave and heart rate responses during anticipation of nonmotor events

Abstract: This study concentrated on three main questions: 1) can anticipatory late negative shift (expectancy wave, E-wave) be elicited in nonmotor S1-S2 paradigm, 2) is it sensitive to variation of emotional aspects of the task and 3) is there a connection between heart rate (HR) responses and E-wave. S1 was a letter row that was replaced tachistoscopically by another letter row (S2). The task of the subjects (n=12) was to detect if the critical aspects of S2 were similar to S1. After their delayed response they received feedback of their performance. The emotional aspects of the task were varied by presenting aversive noise bursts at the end of the feedback period either always, contingently to their performance or not at all. A negative shift was present both before S2 and aversive noise (when presented). Varying the emotional aspects of the task had an effect on the amplitude of the E-wave. There was also a connection between E-wave and heart rate responses: heart rate response seemed to be a precondition for E-wave elicitation. The results support Simons’s conclusion that nonmotor E-wave reflects specifically emotional anticipation.