Motor adaptations are responsible for recalibrating actions and facilitating the achievement of goals in an ever-changing environment. Once consolidated, the decay of motor adaptation is a process affected by available sensory information during deadaptation. However, the cortical response to task error feedback during the deadaptation phase has received little attention. Here, we explored changes in brain cortical responses due to feedback of task-related error during deadaptation. Twelve healthy volunteers were recruited for the study. Right hand movement and EEG were recorded during repetitive trials of a hand reaching movement. A visuomotor rotation of 30° was introduced to induce motor adaptation. Volunteers participated in two experimental sessions organized in baseline, adaptation, and deadaptation blocks. In the deadaptation block, the visuomotor rotation was removed, and visual feedback was only provided in one session. Performance was quantified using angle end-point error, mean speed, and movement onset time. Non-parametric spatiotemporal cluster-level permutation test was used to analyze the EEG recordings. During deadaptation, participants experienced a greater error reduction when feedback of the cursor was provided. The EEG responses showed larger activity in the left centro-frontal parietal areas during the deadaptation block when participants received feedback, as opposed to when they did not receive feedback. Centrally distributed clusters were found for the adaptation and deadaptation blocks in the absence of visual feedback. The results suggest that visual feedback of the task-related error activates cortical areas related to performance monitoring. Different neural circuits contribute to the deadaptation process depending on the available surrounding information.

Listening effort can be defined as a measure of cognitive resources used by listeners to perform a listening task. Several methods have been proposed to assess listening effort, but the reliability of these methods has not yet been thoroughly established, which is necessary before using them in research or clinical settings. This study included 32 participants who performed speech-in-noise tasks in two sessions (separated approx. 1 week apart) by listening to Sentences and Word lists presented at different signal-to-noise ratios (-9, -6, -3, and 0 dB). We assessed the test-retest reliability of the self-reported measure of listening effort and frontal midline theta (Fmθ) power, which has been proposed as a neural correlate of listening effort. The reliability of the percentage of correct words was also examined. Relative and absolute reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis, respectively. The standard error of measurement (SEM) and the smallest detectable change (SDC) were also assessed. Overall, the reliability analysis revealed an acceptable between-session variability for the correct words and effort rating. However, Fmθ power showed high variability, which brings into question its use as a reliable correlate of listening effort.