Several theories and computational models have been developed regarding the functional significance of the ERN. Some suggest that the ERN reflects the error-detection process (e.g., Falkenstein et al., 1991; Falkenstein et al., 2000; Nieuwenhuis et al., 2001; Scheffers et al., 1996), an error signal at the remedial action system (e.g., Holroyd & Coles, 2002), the conflict-detection process (e.g., Yeung, Cohen, & Botvinick, 2004), or a more emotionally- or motivationally-relevant response to errors (Bush, Luu, & Posner, 2000; Gehring & Willoughby, 2002; Pailing et al., 2002).
