A model proposed by Holroyd and Coles (2002) stating that error related negativity (ERN) is caused by a decrease in mesencephalic dopamine output to the ACC was tested. A group of individuals with Parkinson's disease (N = 16) and an age and education matched group free from neurological disorder (N = 16) completed a card guessing task where the magnitude of monetary penalties and rewards for incorrect and correct answers was varied by block. Individuals with Parkinson's disease were tested after an overnight washout from dopamingeric medications. The amplitude of the mid-frontal negativity elicited by feedback was analyzed with spatial and temporal principal components analyses. Dipole source analyses were also performed. Analyses revealed no significant differences in the mid-frontal negativity amplitude between the two groups. In addition, the magnitude of consequence and the validity of response had no significant effects on fERN amplitude although there was a trend for higher magnitude consequences to be associated with larger fERN amplitude. Dipole analyses indicated the source of the mid-frontal negativity fell into the cingulate, specifically the cingulate gyrus. The results suggest that the mid-frontal negativity elicited by feedback indicating an error was made remains intact in individuals with Parkinson's disease. This does not support predictions made by Holroyd and Coles' model in regard to this group unless disruptions to the system that produces the fERN do not occur until later stages in the disease. An additional finding was a late positive potential for the error trials which began approximately 450 milliseconds after feedback and continued throughout the epoch. The ramifications of this wave are discussed.

Cette thèse a pour objectif d’établir certains principes d’une potentielle théorisation de l’écriture biographiques. En liant des exemples prosaïques du XIXe siècle à certaines bases théoriques du XXIe siècle, il est question d’explorer les récurrences qui ont contribué à faire de certaines biographies des succès ou des échecs. En tant que biographe, essayiste et critique, Giles Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) est un sujet d’étude idéal qui permet d’analyser la relation entre le biographe, le biographié et le lecteur. Puis, selon le schéma structurel de la métahistoire proposé par Hayden White, il est possible d’émettre l’hypothèse que la biographie peut être un genre à part entière autant du point de vue de la forme que du fond. / The objective of this thesis attempts to illustrate a series of principles which could potentially lead to a theorisation of biographical writing. By exposing prosaic literary examples of the XIX century and certain theoretical bases of the XXI century, it is possible to depict recurrences that have contributed to the success or failure of various biographical works. Giles Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) as a biographer, essayist and critic appears to be the ideal subject that enables one to analyse the relationship between biographers, biographees and readers. Furthermore, the structural scheme of metahistory, as suggested by Hayden White, brings us one step closer to the assumption that biography can stand as a full-fledged genre both in terms of form and substance.