Error-related negativity

Okay kiddo, so when we do something wrong or make a mistake, our brain gives us a signal to tell us that we made a boo-boo. This signal is called "error-related negativity," or ERN for short.

Think of it like a little alarm bell that goes off in your head when you spill your milk or drop your toy. It's your brain's way of telling you that something went wrong, and that you need to pay attention so you don't make the same mistake again.

In grown-up terms, ERN is actually a response that shows up on brain scans when we make an error on a task. It happens really quickly, within just a few hundred milliseconds, and it's thought to be part of our brain's "feedback system" for learning and improving.

So basically, ERN is the way our brain tells us "oops, I made a mistake" so we can try to do better next time. And just like when you spill your milk, it's important to pay attention to that signal and learn from it so you can do better in the future!