The N2 in go/no-go tasks reflects conflict monitoring not response inhibition

Verbal retrieval deficits due to traumatic brain injury are associated with changes in event related potentials during a Go-NoGo task

OBJECTIVE

Verbal retrieval (VR) deficits often occur after traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the mechanisms remain unclear. We examined how event-related potentials (ERPs) during a Go-NoGo task were associated with VR deficits.

METHODS

Sixty veterans with a history of TBI underwent a neuropsychological battery and a Go-NoGo task with concurrent EEG recording. We compared task performance and ERP measures (N2, P3) between those with and those without persistent injury-related VR deficits. We then used generalized linear modeling to examine the relationship between ERP measures and scores on measures of executive function and processing speed.

RESULTS

Go-NoGo task performance was comparable between the groups. Those with VR deficits had larger N2 amplitude in NoGo than in Go conditions. In participants with VR deficits, larger NoGo N2/P3 amplitude predicted faster processing speed. Furthermore, larger P3 amplitude and shorter P3 latency of the difference wave (NoGo - Go) predicted faster processing speed in those with VR deficits.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite no difference in Go-NoGo task performance, ERP amplitude and latency measures associated with cognitive control during Go-NoGo distinguished TBI individuals with VR deficits from those without.

SIGNIFICANCE

This study furthers our understanding of VR deficits in TBI and implicates potential application of ERP measures in monitoring and treating such deficits.

Indistinguishable behavioural and neural correlates of perceptual self-other distinction in autistic and neurotypical adults

Previous research has suggested that self-bias (i.e., enhanced cognitive processing of self-versus other-relevant information) may be atypical in autism spectrum conditions (ASC), perhaps due to difficulties with self-other distinction. However, empirical evidence for this is inconsistent, and the neural basis of processing differences remains unknown. We present two experiments that aimed to test perceptual self-bias and familiarity effects in ASC using a perceptual-association task. Participants were asked to distinguish face/label associations of the self from those of other people of differing levels of familiarity (i.e., friend vs stranger). Experiment 1 took an individual differences approach by testing whether behavioural self-bias is associated with the number of autistic traits in a neurotypical adult sample (N = 59). Experiment 2 took a case-control approach by testing whether behavioural self-bias and associated ERP responses differ between neurotypical (N = 27) and autistic (N = 30) adults. Across both experiments, behavioural results showed that participants experienced a self-bias (self > friend and stranger) and a familiarity effect (e.g., friend > stranger); neither effect was affected by the number of autistic traits or autism diagnosis. In Experiment 2, analysis of N1, N2, and P3 ERP components revealed a typical self-bias in both groups (self distinct from friend and stranger), and only the autistic group showed evidence of a familiarity effect (N2 more negative-going for stranger than friend). The findings are discussed in relation to self-other distinction ability, and the relevance of other neuropsychological and psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and alexithymia are also considered.

Effects of Catecholaminergic and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Response Inhibition

BACKGROUND

The principle of gain control determines the efficiency of neuronal processing and can be enhanced with pharmacological or brain stimulation methods. It is a key factor for cognitive control, but the degree of how much gain control may be enhanced underlies a physical limit.

METHODS

To investigate whether methylphenidate (MPH) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) share common underlying mechanisms and cognitive effects, we administered MPH and anodal tDCS (atDCS) over the right inferior frontal gyrus both separately and combined, while healthy adult participants (n = 104) performed a response selection and inhibition task. The recorded EEG data were analyzed with a focus on theta band activity, and source estimation analyses were conducted.

RESULTS

The behavioral data show that MPH and atDCS revealed interactive effects on the ability to inhibit responses. Both MPH and atDCS modulated task-related theta oscillations in the supplementary motor area when applied separately, making a common underlying mechanism likely. When both stimulation methods were combined, there was no doubling of effects in the supplementary motor area but a shift to inferior frontal areas in the cortical network responsible for theta-driven processing.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that both MPH and atDCS likely share a common underlying neuronal mechanism, and interestingly, they demonstrate interactive effects when combined, which are most likely due to the physical limitations of gain control increases. The current study provides critical groundwork for future combined applications of MPH and non-invasive brain stimulation.

Aligning Event-Related Potentials with Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation for Modulation-a Review

This review aims to demonstrate the connections between event-related potentials (ERPs), event-related oscillations (EROs), and non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), with a specific focus on transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). We begin with a short examination and discussion of the relation between ERPs and EROs. Then, we investigate the diverse fields of NIBS, highlighting tACS as a potent tool for modulating neural oscillations and influencing cognitive performance. Emphasizing the impact of tACS on individual ERP components, this article offers insights into the potential of conventional tACS for targeted stimulation of single ERP components. Furthermore, we review recent articles that explore a novel approach of tACS: ERP-aligned tACS. This innovative technique exploits the temporal precision of ERP components, aligning tACS with specific neural events to optimize stimulation effects and target the desired neural response. In conclusion, this review combines current knowledge to explore how ERPs, EROs, and NIBS interact, particularly highlighting the modulatory possibilities offered by tACS. The incorporation of ERP-aligned tACS introduces new opportunities for future research, advancing our understanding of the complex connection between neural oscillations and cognitive processes.

An event-related potential study of prepotent motor activity and response inhibition deficits in schizophrenia

Response inhibition deficits in schizophrenia (SZ) are accompanied by reduced neural activities using event-related potential (ERP) measurements. However, it remains unclear whether the reduction in inhibition-related ERPs in SZ is contingent upon prepotent motor tendencies. This study aimed to examine the relationship between ERP markers of prepotent motor activity (lateralised readiness potential, LRP) and response inhibition (P3) by collecting behavioural and EEG data from healthy control (HC) subjects and SZ patients during a modified Go/No-Go task. A trial-averaged analysis revealed that SZ patients made more commission errors in No-Go trials compared with HC subjects, although there was no significant difference in the inhibition-related P3 effect (i.e. larger P3 amplitudes in No-Go compared with Go trials) between the two groups. Subsequently, No-Go trials were sorted and median-split into bins of stronger and weaker motor tendencies. Both HC and SZ participants made more commission errors when faced with stronger motor tendencies. The LRP-sorted P3 data indicated that HC subjects exhibited larger P3 effects in response to stronger motor tendencies, whereas this trial-by-trial association between P3 and motor tendencies was absent in SZ patients. Furthermore, SZ patients displayed diminished P3 effects in No-Go trials with stronger motor tendencies but not in trials with weaker motor tendencies, relative to HC subjects. Taken together, these findings suggest that SZ patients are unable to dynamically adjust inhibition-related neural activities in response to changing inhibitory control demands and emphasise the importance of considering prepotent motor activity when investigating the neural mechanisms underlying response inhibition deficits in SZ.

Video game addiction is associated with early stage of inhibitory control problems: An event-related potential study using cued Go/NoGo task

Video game addiction (VGA) is associated with cognitive problems, particularly deficits in inhibitory control. The present study aimed to investigate behavioural responses and event-related potential associated with specific response inhibition using the cued Go/NoGo task to examine the effects of VGA on brain activity related to response inhibition. Twenty-five individuals addicted to video games (action video games) and 25 matched healthy controls participated in the study. The results showed that the VGA group had significantly more commission error in the NoGo trials and faster reaction time in the Go trials compared with the control group. The event-related potential analyses revealed significant reductions in amplitudes of N2 cue and N2 NoGo in the VGA group. While there was no significant difference between the N2 amplitudes of the Go and NoGo trials in the VGA group, the control group had a larger N2 amplitude in the NoGo trials. These results indicate that VGA subjects have difficulties in the early stages of response inhibition, as well as some level of impairment in proactive cognitive control.

Influence of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Motor Planning: A Resting-State and Task-State EEG Study

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) shows a potential regulatory role for motor planning. Still, existing research mainly focuses on behavioral studies, and the neural modulation mechanism needs to be clarified. Therefore, we designed a multi-condition (active or sham, pre or under, difficult or easy, left-hand or right-hand) motor planning experiment to explore the effect of online tVNS (i.e., tVNS and tasks synchronized). Twenty-eight subjects were recruited and randomly assigned to active and sham groups. Both groups performed the same tasks in the experiment and separately collected task-state EEG and 5-min eye-open resting-state EEG. The results showed that the changes in event-related potential (ERP) and movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) amplitudes were more significant for the left-hand difficult task (LD) under active-tVNS. According to the power spectrum results, active-tVNS significantly modulated the activities of the contralateral motor cortex at beta and gamma bands in the resting state. The functional connectivity based on partial directed coherence (PDC) showed significant changes in the parietal lobe after active-tVNS. These findings suggest that tVNS is a promising way to improve motor planning ability.

Induced emotion counter-regulation affects attentional inhibition of emotional information: ERP evidence from a randomized manipulation approach

Automatic emotion counter-regulation refers to an unintentional attentional shift away from the current emotional state and toward information of the opposite valence. It is a useful emotion regulation skill that prevents the escalation of current emotional state. However, the cognitive mechanisms of emotion counter-regulation are not fully understood. Using a randomization approach, this study investigated how automatic emotion counter-regulation impacted attentional inhibition of emotional stimuli, an important aspect of emotion processing closely associated with emotion regulation and mental health. Forty-six university students were randomly assigned to an emotion counter-regulation group and a control group. The former group watched an anger-inducing video to evoke automatic emotion counter-regulation of anger, while the latter group watched an emotionally neutral video. Next, both groups completed a negative priming task of facial expressions with EEG recorded. In the emotion counter-regulation group, we observed an enhanced attentional inhibition of the angry, but not happy, faces, as indicated by a prolonger response time, a larger N2, and a smaller P3 in response to angry versus happy stimuli. These patterns were not observed in the control group, supporting the role of elicited emotion counter-regulation of anger in causing these modulation patterns in responses.

The Impact of Problematic Social Media Use on Inhibitory Control and the Role of Fear of Missing Out: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials

Introduction

The general deficit in inhibitory control of problematic social media users has received widespread attention. However, the neural correlates of problematic social media use (PSMU) and inhibitory control remain unclear. Additionally, the co-occurrence of the fear of missing out (FoMO) with social media use is common, yet its role in the relationship between PSMU and inhibitory control has not been investigated.

Methods

This study aimed to examine the electrophysiological correlates of PSMU and inhibitory control using a modified two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs), and to explore the role of FoMO in this relationship. A total of 66 participants with varying degrees of PSMU were included in the analysis based on the Problematic Mobile Social Media Usage Questionnaire.

Results

The study found that PSMU could impact inhibitory control. Specifically, as the PSMU score increases, the N2 amplitude is greater for social media-related pictures, and the P3 amplitude is smaller, while no significant differences are observed for neutral pictures. This suggests that PSMU affects inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. Furthermore, FoMO played a mediating role between PSMU and inhibitory control. PSMU could further impact inhibitory control through FoMO.

Conclusion

This study provides electrophysiological evidence for deficits in inhibitory control in PSMU and suggests that FoMO may further reduce inhibitory control in PSMU individuals.

Unraveling the social hierarchy: Exploring behavioral and neural dynamics in shaping inhibitory control

Inhibitory control is crucial for regulating emotions, suppressing biases, and inhibiting inappropriate responses in social interactions. Social rank, or perceived position in the hierarchy, can influence inhibitory control, with high-rank individuals requiring it to regulate dominant behavior and low-rank individuals requiring it to regulate emotional reactions or avoid submissive behaviors. Furthermore, research suggests that social status can affect the neural mechanisms underlying inhibitory control, leading to differences in abilities and strategies based on perceived rank. In this study, we investigated the effects of social rank on inhibitory control using a dot estimation task to prime social hierarchy. Subsequently, we assessed the inhibitory control of the participants using a Go/Nogo task with photos of individuals in different social ranks. The study recruited a total of 43 students (22 males and 21 females), with a mean age of 26.8 years (SD=4.08). We measured both behavioral (reaction time and response accuracy) and electrophysiological (N200 and P300 event-related potentials) responses to investigate the neural correlates of inhibitory control. Results showed that participants responded slower to lower-rank individuals but had higher accuracy when inhibiting their response to them. The N200 amplitude was greater when presented with higher ranks stimuli in Go trials, indicating greater conflict monitoring, while the P300 amplitude was significantly higher in Nogo trials compared to Go trials. These findings suggest that social rank can influence inhibitory control and highlight the importance of considering the impact of social hierarchy in social interactions.

EEG components of inhibitory control ability in internet gaming disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

Inhibitory control ability is a crucial cognitive function that enables individuals to regulate their impulses and behaviors in a goal-directed manner. However, with the increasing prevalence of internet gaming disorder (IGD), there has been growing concern about the impact of excessive gaming on inhibitory control ability. Despite the accumulating evidence on this topic, the research conclusion on whether people with IGD have worse inhibition control ability than healthy controls remains inconsistent, and the lack of effective electroencephalography prediction indicators further complicates this issue. To address this research gap, the present study aimed to investigate whether N2 event-related potential (ERP) and P3 ERP components could serve as reliable indicators of inhibitory control ability in individuals with IGD.

METHODS

To achieve this goal, a systematic literature search was conducted in several databases, including Web of Science, ScienceDirect (EBSCO), SpringerLink, PubMed, and Wiley Online Library. The inclusion criteria were strictly implemented to ensure the quality of the studies included in the meta-analysis. In the end, a total of 5 studies, with 139 participants diagnosed with IGD and 139 healthy controls, were included in the analysis.

RESULTS

Meta-analysis revealed large effect sizes of N2 and P3 amplitudes in individuals with IGD, indicating that these two ERP components could be potential indicators of inhibitory control ability. Specifically, the N2 and P3 amplitude was significantly larger in individuals with IGD than in the healthy control group, suggesting deficits in inhibitory control function and increased impulsivity in the IGD group. In the inhibition control task, the IGD group required more cognitive resources to suppress impulsive responses.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the findings of this meta-analysis shed light on the potential use of N2 and P3 amplitudes as reliable indicators of inhibitory control ability in individuals with IGD. The results provide crucial insights into the neural mechanisms underlying inhibitory control impairment in IGD, which could inform the development of effective interventions for this condition. Further research is needed to explore the functional significance of these ERP components and their potential clinical applications in the diagnosis and treatment of IGD.

Influence of conflicting prior information on action anticipation in soccer players: an ERP study

Objective

Prior probability information and visual kinematic information are essential for action anticipation in athletes. The aims of this study were to examine how conflicting prior information influences anticipatory judgment in athletes vs. non-athletes and to explore the underlying cognitive mechanisms.

Methods

The aim of Experiment 1 was to determine the moment when prior information influenced action anticipation in athletes vs. non-athletes. To that end, 17 semi-elite soccer goalkeepers and 18 non-athletes received prior information about the probability of the direction that a player on a video would kick a ball into the goal. Participants then anticipated the trajectory of the ball when the action of the player's kick on the video was truncated at the moment the foot contacted the ball (time T) or one frame (T-1; 50 ms) or two frames (T-2; 100 ms) before the foot-ball contact. The aim of Experiment 2 was to elucidate the adaptive cognitive-motor behavior exhibited by highly trained soccer players at the moment when their anticipatory performance was most influenced by prior information. Experiment 2 included 27 different semi-elite soccer players with many years of experience as a goalkeeper and 27 different non-athletes. Participants anticipated the direction of the kick when the kinematic action of the kicker at the moment the anticipatory performance of the participants was most influenced by prior information (as determined in Experiment 1) was congruent, incongruent, or neutral. Action anticipation accuracy and response time were evaluated for both experiments, whereas event-related potential components N1, N2, and P3 were assessed only in Experiment 2.

Results

The results of Experiment 1 showed that anticipatory accuracy was significantly higher among athletes than non-athletes and that anticipatory accuracy with directional information given was significantly higher than that when no prior information was given or when prior information without directional information was given (p < 0.001) for both T-1 (p's ≤ 0.034) and T-2 (p's < 0.001) occlusion points. In Experiment 2 using those two video occlusion times, the amplitude of the N1 component, which reflects selective attention to stimulus properties, was significantly higher in athletes than in non-athletes (p < 0.001). The amplitude of the N2 component, which has been associated with conflict monitoring, for the incongruent condition was significantly higher than that for both neutral (p < 0.001) and congruent (p < 0.001) conditions in athletes. Non-athletes exhibited no significant N2 amplitude differences for any prior information condition.

Conclusion

Integrating prior information enhanced action anticipation in semi-elite soccer players, particularly 50 and 100 ms before the foot-ball contact. Semi-elite soccer players prioritized early selective attention and conflict monitoring of kinematic information, facilitating action anticipation using the prior information.

Uncovering the underlying factors of ERP changes in the cyberball paradigm: A systematic review investigating the impact of ostracism and paradigm characteristics

The Cyberball is the most commonly employed paradigm for the investigation of the effects of social exclusion, also called ostracism. The analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs), short-term stimulus-induced fluctuations in the EEG signal, has been employed for the identification of time-sensitive neural responses to ostracism-related information. Changes in ERPs during the Cyberball are normally attributed to the effect of ostracism, but it has been argued that characteristics of the paradigm, not ostracism, are the driving force for these changes. To elucidate the origin of the ERP changes in the Cyberball, we systematically reviewed the Cyberball-ERP literature of healthy, adult populations, and evaluated whether the social context of ostracism or characteristics of the paradigm are better suited for the explanation of the found results. Our results show that for many components no clear origin can be identified, but that expectancy violations, not ostracism, best explains the results of the P3 complex. Future research should therefore also employ other paradigms for the research into the effects of ostracism on ERPs.

Effects of fear of missing out on inhibitory control in social media context: evidence from event-related potentials

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of fear of missing out (FoMO) on inhibitory control in social media context. The present study used a two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs) technology to measure inhibitory control. Based on the Fear of Missing Out Scale, participants with varying degrees of FoMO were recruited to complete two studies. A total of 78 participants in Study 1 completed a two-choice oddball task (stimuli "W" or "M"). The results showed that FoMO did not have a significant impact on general inhibitory control at both the behavioral and electrophysiological levels. To further examine the effect of FoMO in social media context. In Study 2, 72 participants completed a modified two-choice oddball task with three types of pictures (high and low social media-related and neutral). The behavioral results revealed that as FoMO scores increased, inhibitory control decreased. ERP analysis revealed that with higher FoMO scores, social media-related pictures elicited larger N2 amplitude and smaller P3 amplitude, but not for neutral pictures. This suggests that FoMO undermines inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. These findings suggest that FoMO can undermine inhibitory control in the social media context. Considering the indispensable use of social media in the digital age, addressing and understanding the influence of FoMO on inhibitory control could be essential for promoting healthy digital behaviors and cognitive functions.

Maintaining Task Performance Levels Under Cognitive Load While Walking Requires Widespread Reallocation of Neural Resources

This study elucidates the neural mechanisms underlying increasing cognitive load while walking by employing 2 versions of a response inhibition task, the '1-back' version and the more cognitively demanding '2-back' version. By using the Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) modality, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, three-dimensional (3D) gait kinematics and task-related behavioral responses were collected while young adults (n = 61) performed either the 1-back or 2-back response inhibition task. Interestingly, increasing inhibitory difficulty from 1-back to 2-back during walking was not associated with any detectable costs in response accuracy, response speed, or gait consistency. However, the more difficult cognitive task was associated with distinct EEG component changes during both successful inhibitions (correct rejections) and successful executions (hits) of the motor response. During correct rejections, ERP changes were found over frontal regions, during latencies related to sensory gain control, conflict monitoring and working memory storage and processing. During hits, ERP changes were found over left-parietal regions during latencies related to orienting attention and subsequent selection and execution of the motor plan. The pattern of attenuation in walking-related EEG amplitude changes, during 2-back task performance, is thought to reflect more effortful recalibration of neural processes, a mechanism which might be a key driver of performance maintenance in the face of increased cognitive demands while walking. Overall, the present findings shed light on the extent of the neurocognitive capacity of young adults and may lead to a better understanding of how factors such as aging or neurological disorders could impinge on this capacity.

Personal relative deprivation impairs the ability to inhibit impulsive responses: an exploratory ERP study

Evidence indicates that personal relative deprivation (PRD) can lead to various impulsive behaviors. Given that impulsive behaviors are usually caused by a failure to exert cognitive control, the purpose of this study was to explore whether PRD affects the ability to exert cognitive control on behavior. Forty-six healthy participants were randomly assigned to PRD or non-PRD group. Participants of the PRD group were told their income would lie below the Chinese average. While their electrophysiological responses were recorded, they underwent a Go/No-Go task simultaneously assessing the ability to detect response conflict and inhibit the predominant response. We found that the individuals with induced PRD show diminished ability to inhibit predominant response. We suggest this is because PRD-related concerns consume cognitive resources, leaving less for other tasks. However, we also found that individuals with induced PRD show enhanced ability to detect conflict. This might be because that individuals with induced PRD were sensitive to potentially threatening information (high-conflict No-Go trials) and they can detect conflict with less cognitive resources. These findings may facilitate future attempts to design interventions for relatively deprived individuals to manage their impulsive behavior.

Immature event-related alpha dynamics in children compared with the young adults during inhibition shown by day-night stroop task

Introduction

Inhibitory control develops gradually from infancy to childhood and improves further during adolescence as the brain matures. Related previous studies showed the indispensable role of task-related alpha power during inhibition both in children and young adults. Nonetheless, none of the studies have been able to investigate the direct differences in brain responses between children and young adults when confronted with a stimulus that should be inhibited. Because, unlike event-related designs, task-related designs involve continuous tasks over a certain period, which precludes the possibility of making such a comparison. Accordingly, by employing event-related design, the present study first time in the literature, aimed to analyze the event-related alpha phase locking and event-related alpha synchronization/ desynchronization to differentiate the inhibitory processes in children compared to young adults.

Methods

Twenty children between the ages of 6 to 7  years and 20 healthy young adult subjects between the ages of 18 to 30  years were included in the study. Day-night Stroop task was applied to all subjects during 18-channel EEG recordings. Event-related time-frequency analysis was performed with the complex Morlet Wavelet Transform for the alpha frequency band (8-13  Hz). Event related spectral perturbation (ERSP) in three different time windows (0-200  ms, 200-400  ms, 400-600  ms) and Event-related phase locking in the early time window (0-400  ms) was calculated.

Results

The children had increased alpha power in early and late time windows but decreased alpha phase locking in the early time windows compared to young adults. There were also topological differences between groups; while young adults had increased alpha phase-locking in frontal and parietal electrode sites, children had increased occipital alpha power and phase locking.

Discussion

The shift in event-related alpha power observed from posterior to anterior regions with age may suggest a progressive maturation of the frontal areas involved in inhibitory processes from childhood to adulthood. The results of the present study showed that children and young adults had different EEG oscillatory dynamics during inhibitory processes at alpha frequency range.

Effects of the number of competing responses on neural signatures of pre- and post-response conflict

The optimization of human performance requires the continuous monitoring of behavioral conflicts. According to conflict monitoring theory, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex registers response conflict which is reflected by two electrophysiological signatures, the N2 and the Ne/ERN. The theory assumes that, if a stimulus activates an incorrect response that competes with the correct response, pre-response conflict on correct trials (reflected by the N2) is enhanced but post-response conflict on error trials (reflected by the Ne/ERN) is reduced. Here, we asked whether response conflict depends on the number of competing incorrect responses activated by a stimulus, that is, whether the N2 is further enhanced and the Ne/ERN is further reduced if two incorrect responses are activated as compared to one. To this end, we used a modified flanker paradigm, in which the two flankers were associated either with the same incorrect response or with different incorrect responses. Our results indicate an increased N2 on correct trials and a reduced Ne/ERN on error trials in the latter as compared to the former condition. These results confirm central predictions of conflict monitoring theory and demonstrate that response conflict is directly related to the number of competing incorrect responses.

Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the differential effect of reward prospect on response selection and inhibition

Reward and cognitive control play crucial roles in shaping goal-directed behavior. Yet, the behavioral and neural underpinnings of interactive effects of both processes in driving our actions towards a particular goal have remained rather unclear. Given the importance of inhibitory control, we investigated the effect of reward prospect on the modulatory influence of automatic versus controlled processes during response inhibition. For this, a performance-contingent monetary reward for both correct response selection and response inhibition was added to a Simon NoGo task, which manipulates the relationship of automatic and controlled processes in Go and NoGo trials. A neurophysiological approach was used by combining EEG temporal signal decomposition and source localization methods. Compared to a non-rewarded control group, rewarded participants showed faster response execution, as well as overall lower response selection and inhibition accuracy (shifted speed-accuracy tradeoff). Interestingly, the reward group displayed a larger interference of the interactive effects of automatic versus controlled processes during response inhibition (i.e., a larger Simon NoGo effect), but not during response selection. The reward-specific behavioral effect was mirrored by the P3 amplitude, underlining the importance of stimulus-response association processes in explaining variability in response inhibition performance. The selective reward-induced neurophysiological modulation was associated with lower activation differences in relevant structures spanning the inferior frontal and parietal cortex, as well as higher activation differences in the somatosensory cortex. Taken together, this study highlights relevant neuroanatomical structures underlying selective reward effects on response inhibition and extends previous reports on the possible detrimental effect of reward-triggered performance trade-offs on cognitive control processes.

Event-related potential (ERP) markers of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and associated psychosis

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is a multisystemic disorder characterized by a wide range of clinical features, ranging from life-threatening to less severe conditions. One-third of individuals with the deletion live with mild to moderate intellectual disability; approximately 60% meet criteria for at least one psychiatric condition.22q11.2DS has become an important model for several medical, developmental, and psychiatric disorders. We have been particularly interested in understanding the risk for psychosis in this population: Approximately 30% of the individuals with the deletion go on to develop schizophrenia. The characterization of cognitive and neural differences between those individuals who develop schizophrenia and those who do not, despite being at genetic risk, holds important promise in what pertains to the clarification of paths to disease and to the development of tools for early identification and intervention.Here, we review our previous event-related potential (ERP) findings as potential markers for 22q11.2DS and the associated risk for psychosis, while discussing others' work. We focus on auditory processing (auditory-evoked potentials, auditory adaptation, and auditory sensory memory), visual processing (visual-evoked potentials and visual adaptation), and inhibition and error monitoring.The findings discussed suggest basic mechanistic and disease process effects on neural processing in 22q11.2DS that are present in both early sensory and later cognitive processing, with possible implications for phenotype. In early sensory processes, both during auditory and visual processing, two mechanisms that impact neural responses in opposite ways seem to coexist-one related to the deletion, which increases brain responses; another linked to psychosis, decreasing neural activity. Later, higher-order cognitive processes may be equally relevant as markers for psychosis. More specifically, we argue that components related to error monitoring may hold particular promise in the study of risk for schizophrenia in the general population.

Negative inhibition is poor in sub-threshold depression individuals: Evidence from ERP and a Go/No-go task

In this study, Go/No-go task combined with ERP technology were used to explore the characteristics of negative emotion inhibition in SD and healthy individuals and whether there are differences between negative emotion inhibition and neutral emotion inhibition in SD. The results showed that SD showed the same poor negative inhibition as depressive patients in behavior, but there was no significant difference between SD and CG in ERPs. Overall, compared with neutral emotional information, negative emotional information would reduce attention control in conflict processing, lead to faster conflict processing, attract attention, occupy more cognitive resources, and be more difficult to inhibit. It is concluded that the negative attention bias of SD individuals is only reflected in the bottom-up stimulation processing, but has not developed into the top-down cognitive control, which also suggests that the corresponding intervention measures at the early stage of depression may have better effects.

More Evidence That Ensemble Music Training Influences Children's Neurobehavioral Correlates of Auditory Executive Attention

We assessed the neurocognitive correlates of auditory executive attention in low socioeconomic status 9-12-year-old children-with and without training in a social music program (OrKidstra). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during an auditory Go/NoGo task utilizing 1100 Hz and 2000 Hz pure tones. We examined Go trials, which required attention, tone discrimination and executive response control. We measured Reaction Times (RTs), accuracy and amplitude of relevant ERP signatures: N100-N200 complex, P300, and Late Potentials (LP). Children also completed a screening test for auditory sensory sensitivity and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV) to assess verbal comprehension. OrKidstra children had faster RTs and larger ERP amplitudes to the Go tone. Specifically, compared to their comparison counterparts, they showed more negative-going polarities bilaterally for N1-N2 and LP signatures across the scalp and larger P300s in parietal and right temporal electrodes; some enhancements were lateralized (i.e., left frontal, and right central and parietal electrodes). Because auditory screening yielded no between-group differences, results suggest that music training did not enhance sensory processing but perceptual and attentional skills, possibly shifting from top-down to more bottom-up processes. Findings have implications for socially based music training interventions in school, specifically for socioeconomically disadvantaged children.

The Association of Emotion Regulation with Distress Tolerance Depends on a Neural Correlate of Cognitive Control

BACKGROUND

Distress tolerance is associated with transdiagnostic mental health problems. Theory and research implicate emotion regulation and cognitive control as factors in distress tolerance. But their unique contributions and interdependency have been unclear. This study tested how emotion regulation and the N2, a neural index of cognitive control, uniquely and interactively predicted distress tolerance.

METHODS

Undergraduate psychology students (N = 57) completed self-report measures and a Go-NoGo task, from which the N2 was extracted using PCA. The Go-NoGo task was counter-balanced to avoid confounding stimulus characteristics and frequency of stimulus presentation.

RESULTS

Emotion regulation predicted distress tolerance, but the N2 did not. The association of emotion regulation with distress tolerance was moderated by the N2, such that the association was larger at higher N2 amplitudes.

LIMITATIONS

The use of a non-clinical student sample limits the generalizability of the results. The data are cross-sectional and correlational, preventing conclusions about causality.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate that emotion regulation is associated with better distress tolerance at higher levels of N2 amplitude, a neural correlate of cognitive control. Emotion regulation may be more effective at enabling distress tolerance in individuals with better cognitive control. This supports past work indicating that distress tolerance interventions may benefit by developing emotion regulation skills. Additional research is needed to test if such an approach is more effective in individuals with better cognitive control.

Prepared to stop: how sense of agency in a preceding trial modulates inhibitory control in the current trial

Feeling in control of actions and events can enhance motivation for further actions. How this sense of agency (SoA) in fact influences flexible motor control remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of SoA on subsequent response inhibition in a modified go/no-go task with EEG recordings. We manipulated participants' SoA by varying the presence, predictability, and emotional valence of a visual outcome for a given motor action. When participants unexpectedly did not receive any visible outcome following their action on trial n - 1, they exhibited slower responses and lower hit rates to the go signal but higher rates of successful inhibition to the no-go signal on trial n, regardless of the emotional valence of the expected action outcome. Furthermore, enhanced inhibitory tendencies were accompanied by reduced N2 and P3 amplitudes, midfrontal theta power, and theta synchronization between midfrontal and medial to parietal areas, indicating that less top-down control is required for successful response inhibition on trial n after experiencing low SoA on trial n - 1. These findings suggest that feeling less in control in a preceding trial makes it easier to implement inhibitory control in the current trial, thereby providing new insights into the role of SoA in goal-directed behavior.

The Relationship between Formal Music Training and Conflict Control: An ERP Study

Music training involves manifolds of sensorimotor processes that tie closely with executive functions, including conflict control. Past studies have found consistent evidence in children of the link between music learning and executive functions. However, the same relationship has not been found in adult populations, and conflict control has yet to be studied in a focused manner. Via the Stroop task and event-related potentials (ERPs), the present study examined the association between musical training and conflict control ability among Chinese college students. The findings exhibited that individuals with music training outperformed individuals without music training by demonstrating higher accuracy and faster reaction times on the Stroop task and exhibiting greater N2 and smaller P3 amplitudes compared to the control group. The results support our hypothesis that people who received music training demonstrate advantages in their capacity for conflict control. The findings also provide scope for future research.

Electrophysiological Correlates of the Interaction of Physical and Numerical Size in Symbolic Number Processing: Insights from a Novel Go/Nogo Numerical Stroop Task

The interaction of physical and numerical size has been investigated and repeatedly demonstrated in the numerical Stroop task, in which participants compare digits of different physical sizes. It is, however, not entirely clear yet what psychological processes contribute to this interaction. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of inhibition in the interaction of physical and numerical size, by introducing a novel paradigm that is suitable to elicit inhibition-related event-related potential components. To this end, we combined the go/nogo paradigm with the numerical Stroop task while measuring EEG and reaction times. Participants were presented with Arabic number pairs and had to press a button if the number on one side was numerically larger and they had to refrain from responding if the number on the other side was numerically larger. The physical size of the number pairs was also manipulated, in order to create congruent, neutral, and incongruent trials. Behavioural results confirmed the well-established numerical distance and numerical Stroop effects. Analysis of electrophysiological data revealed the classical go/nogo electrophysiological effects with numerical stimuli, and showed that peak amplitudes were larger for nogo than for go trials on the N2, as well as on the P3 component, on frontal and midline electrodes. When analysing the congruency effects, the peak amplitude of N2 was larger in incongruent trials than in neutral and congruent trials, while there was no evidence of a congruency effect on the P3 component peaks. Further analysis of the electrophysiological data revealed an additional facilitatory effect in the go trials, as well as an additional interference effect in the nogo trials. Taken together, it seems that interference effects are probably resolved by inhibitory processes and that facilitatory effects are affected by different cognitive control processes required by go versus nogo trials.

Synesthesia has specific cognitive processing during Go/No-go paradigms

Grapheme-color synesthesia is a consistent and automatic perception of non-physical color when presented with a grapheme. Many previous studies focused on the synesthetic visual system, but other cognitive functions in grapheme-color synesthetes have remained unclear. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the characteristics of cognitive processing for motor execution and inhibition during Go/No-go paradigms in grapheme-color synesthesia using event-related potentials (ERPs). Six grapheme-color synesthetes and 24 non-synesthetes performed visual, auditory, and somatosensory Go/No-go paradigms. Omission errors were higher in grapheme-color synesthetes than non-synesthetes. Group-trial interactions (i.e., synesthetes-non-synesthetes × Go-No-go) were observed for the latency of the visual N2 component and amplitude of the somatosensory N2 component. Latencies of auditory and somatosensory P3 components were shorter in grapheme-color synesthetes than non-synesthetes. These findings suggest that grapheme-color synesthetes have specific cognitive processing in motor execution and inhibition as well as synesthetic color perception. Our data advance understanding of cognitive processing in grapheme-color synesthesia.

Paradoxical improvement of cognitive control in older adults under dual-task walking conditions is associated with more flexible reallocation of neural resources: A Mobile Brain-Body Imaging (MoBI) study

Combining walking with a demanding cognitive task is traditionally expected to elicit decrements in gait and/or cognitive task performance. However, it was recently shown that, in a cohort of young adults, most participants improved performance when walking was added to performance of a Go/NoGo response inhibition task. The present study aims to extend these previous findings to an older adult cohort, to investigate whether this improvement when dual-tasking is observed in healthy older adults. Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) was used to record electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, three-dimensional (3D) gait kinematics and behavioral responses in the Go/NoGo task, during sitting or walking on a treadmill, in 34 young adults and 37 older adults. Increased response accuracy during walking, independent of age, was found to correlate with slower responses to stimuli (r = 0.44) and with walking-related EEG amplitude modulations over frontocentral regions (r = 0.47) during the sensory gating (N1) and conflict monitoring (N2) stages of inhibition, and over left-lateralized prefrontal regions (r = 0.47) during the stage of inhibitory control implementation. These neural activity changes are related to the cognitive component of inhibition, and they were interpreted as signatures of behavioral improvement during walking. On the other hand, aging, independent of response accuracy during walking, was found to correlate with slower treadmill walking speeds (r = -0.68) and attenuation in walking-related EEG amplitude modulations over left-dominant frontal (r = -0.44) and parietooccipital regions (r = 0.48) during the N2 stage, and over centroparietal regions (r = 0.48) during the P3 stage. These neural activity changes are related to the motor component of inhibition, and they were interpreted as signatures of aging. Older adults whose response accuracy 'paradoxically' improved during walking manifested neural signatures of both behavioral improvement and aging, suggesting that their flexibility in reallocating neural resources while walking might be maintained for the cognitive but not for the motor inhibitory component. These distinct neural signatures of aging and behavior can potentially be used to identify 'super-agers', or individuals at risk for cognitive decline due to aging or neurodegenerative disease.

Response inhibition and error-monitoring in cystinosis (CTNS gene mutations): Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of a diverse set of difficulties

Cystinosis, a rare lysosomal storage disease, is characterized by cystine crystallization and accumulation within tissues and organs, including the kidneys and brain. Its impact on neural function appears mild relative to its effects on other organs, but therapeutic advances have led to substantially increased life expectancy, necessitating deeper understanding of its impact on neurocognitive function. Behaviorally, some deficits in executive function have been noted in this population, but the underlying neural processes are not understood. Using standardized cognitive assessments and a Go/No-Go response inhibition task in conjunction with high-density electrophysiological recordings (EEG), we sought to investigate the behavioral and neural dynamics of inhibition of a prepotent response and of error monitoring (critical components of executive function) in individuals with cystinosis, when compared to age-matched controls. Thirty-seven individuals diagnosed with cystinosis (7-36 years old, 24 women) and 45 age-matched controls (27 women) participated in this study. Analyses focused on N2 and P3 No-Go responses and error-related positivity (Pe). Atypical inhibitory processing was shown behaviorally. Electrophysiological differences were additionally found between the groups, with individuals with cystinosis showing larger No-Go P3s. Error-monitoring was likewise different between the groups, with those with cystinosis showing reduced Pe amplitudes.

Electrophysiological signature of the interplay between habits and inhibition in response to smoking-related cues in individuals with a smoking habit: An event-related potential study

The rigid, stimulus-bound nature of drug seeking that characterizes substance use disorder (SUD) has been related to a dysregulation of motivational and early attentional reflexive and inhibitory reflective systems. However, the mechanisms by which these systems are engaged by drug-paired conditioned stimuli (CSs) when they promote the enactment of seeking habits in individuals with a SUD have not been elucidated. The present study aimed behaviourally and electrophysiologically to characterize the nature of the interaction between the reflexive and reflective systems recruited by CSs in individuals with a smoking habit. We measured the behavioural performance and associated event-related potentials (ERPs) of 20 individuals with a smoking habit and 20 controls, who never smoked regularly, in a modified Go/NoGo task during which smoking-related CSs, appetitive and neutral pictures, presented either in first or third-person visual perspective were displayed 250 ms before the Go/NoGo cue. We show that smoking-related cues selectively influence early incentive motivation-related attention bias (N2 after picture onset), motor readiness and behavioural inhibition (Go-P3, NoGo-P3 and Pc) of individuals with a smoking habit only when presented from a first-person visual perspective. These data together identify the neural signature of the aberrant engagement of the reflexive and reflective systems during the recruitment of an incentive habit by CSs presented as if they had been response-produced, that is, as conditioned reinforcers.

Stroop in motion: Neurodynamic modulation underlying interference control while sitting, standing, and walking

There is conflicting evidence about how interference control in healthy adults is affected by walking as compared to standing or sitting. Although the Stroop paradigm is one of the best-studied paradigms to investigate interference control, the neurodynamics associated with the Stroop task during walking have never been studied. We investigated three Stroop tasks using variants with increasing interference levels - word-reading, ink-naming, and the switching of the two tasks, combined in a systematic dual-tasking fashion with three motor conditions - sitting, standing, and treadmill walking. Neurodynamics underlying interference control were recorded using the electroencephalogram. Worsened performance was observed for the incongruent compared to congruent trials and for the switching Stroop compared to the other two variants. The early frontocentral event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with executive functions (P2, N2) differentially signaled posture-related workloads, while the later stages of information processing indexed faster interference suppression and response selection in walking compared to static conditions. The early P2 and N2 components as well as frontocentral Theta and parietal Alpha power were sensitive to increasing workloads on the motor and cognitive systems. The distinction between the type of load (motor and cognitive) became evident only in the later posterior ERP components in which the amplitude non-uniformly reflected the relative attentional demand of a task. Our data suggest that walking might facilitate selective attention and interference control in healthy adults. Existing interpretations of ERP components recorded in stationary settings should be considered with care as they might not be directly transferable to mobile settings.

Automatic emotion regulation prompts response inhibition to angry faces in sub-clinical depression: An ERP study

The neurocognitive mechanism by which automatic emotion regulation (AER) affects emotion processing remains understudied in the context of psychopathology, such as depression. Participants with sub-clinical depression and healthy controls were randomly assigned to an emotion regulation priming group or a neutral priming group. All participants completed an emotional Go/No-go task by judging the gender of angry or happy faces. During the Go/No-go task, each trial was preceded by subliminal presentation of words describing emotion regulation goals or neutral goals as a manipulation of priming. The behavioral results showed that compared with neutral priming, subliminal priming of regulation goals increased the accuracy in No-go trials with angry faces only for sub-clinically depressed participants. In the ERP results, the main effect of regulation priming was significant in sub-clinically depressed participants, such that showing subliminal priming of regulation goals decreased the amplitude of N2 compared to the neutral priming. Similarly, for the sub-clinically depressed participants, regulation goal priming evoked smaller P3 in response to angry faces than to happy faces. No such pattern was found in neutral goal priming condition or for healthy controls. According to the automotive model of emotion regulation, once goals or norms related to emotion regulations are formed in the mind, a related regulation response could be activated without awareness. Our results suggest that subliminal priming of regulation goals could change the response inhibition to angry faces in sub-clinically depressed participants.

Response Inhibition and Predicting Response to Pharmacological and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder: A Canadian Biomarker Integration Network for Depression Study

BACKGROUND

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with various cognitive impairments, including response inhibition. Deficits in response inhibition may also underlie poor antidepressant treatment response. Recent studies revealed that the neurobiological correlates of response inhibition can predict response to pharmacological treatments. However, the generalizability of this finding to first-line nonpharmacological treatments, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, remains to be investigated.

METHODS

Data from two independent treatment protocols were combined, one in which 65 patients with MDD underwent treatment with escitalopram, and the other in which 41 patients with MDD underwent a course of cognitive behavioral therapy. A total of 25 healthy control subjects were also recruited. Neural correlates of response inhibition were captured by participants completing a Go/NoGo task during electroencephalography recording. Response inhibition-related measures of interest included the amplitudes of the N2 and P3 event-related potentials.

RESULTS

Pretreatment P3 amplitude, which has been linked to both the motor and cognitive aspects of response inhibition, was a significant predictor of change in depressive symptoms following escitalopram and cognitive behavioral therapy treatment. A greater pretreatment P3 amplitude was associated with a greater reduction in depressive severity. In addition, the pretreatment P3 amplitude was found to be significantly greater at baseline in remitters than in nonremitters and healthy control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

The integrity of response inhibition may be critical for a successful course of pharmacological or psychological treatment for MDD. Electrophysiological correlates of response inhibition may have utility as a general prognostic marker of treatment response in MDD. Future studies may investigate the benefit of preceding first-line treatments with interventions that improve response inhibition in MDD.

Electrophysiological evidence for the effectiveness of images versus text in warnings

Warning sign plays an important role in risk avoidance. Many studies have found that images are better warnings than text, while others have revealed flaws of image-only warning signs. To better understand the factors underlying the effectiveness of different types of warning signs (image only, text only, or image and text), this study adopted event-related potential technology to explore the differences at the neurocognitive level using the oddball paradigm and the Go/No-go paradigm. Together, the behavioral and electroencephalogram results showed that text-only warnings had the lowest effectiveness, but there was little difference between the image-only and image-and-text warnings. The differences in the effects of the three warning signs were mainly in the areas of attention and cognitive control, implying differences in the underlying cognitive processes. Therefore, in the design of warning signs, the effects of different design attributes on cognitive processing should be taken into account based on actual needs in order to improve the effectiveness of the signs.

The cognitive neural mechanism of response inhibition and error processing to fearful expressions in adolescents with high reactive aggression

Reactive aggression in adolescents is characterized by high levels of impulsivity. This is associated with deficits in response inhibition and error processing and spontaneous emotion-driven responses to a perceived threat. However, the characteristics and cognitive neural mechanisms of response inhibition and error processing to indirect threat in adolescents with high levels of reactive aggression are unclear. This study explored the characteristics and cognitive neural mechanisms of response inhibition and error processing to fearful expressions in adolescents with high levels of reactive aggression using an emotional Go/No-Go paradigm combined with ERP recordings. Adolescents with high levels of reactive aggression (n = 31) and a control group (n = 30) took part in this study. Results showed that when presented with fearful expressions, adolescents with high levels of reactive aggression showed a smaller No-Go P3 effect and smaller ERN amplitudes following commission errors on the No-Go task than the control group. Results suggested that when presented with fearful expressions, adolescents with high levels of reactive aggression have impaired response inhibition in the later stage of actual inhibitory control of the motor system and impaired error processing in the early stage of fast and automatic initial error detection.

How speed impacts threat assessment in lethal force decisions

Despite the importance of being both fast and accurate in lethal force decisions, there is little empirical evidence to identify how speed impacts threat-related decisions and perception. Two experiments used speeded and unspeeded manipulations to determine how the speed imperative impacted threat assessments. Experiment 1 used drift diffusion modeling to quantify decision parameters, including rate of information processing, decision threshold, bias, and non-decisional processes. Speeded conditions reduced the information threshold needed to make decisions and shortened non-decisional processes, yet this manipulation had no impact on the rate of information processing or starting bias. Experiment 2 explored perceptual differences in threat assessment. Participants confidently made threat assessments despite only 30 ms exposure to stimuli with little impact on their subjective threat ratings based on exposure duration. Taken together, these results document the influence of speed on decision-making parameters of threat assessments while demonstrating little impact on threat perception.

Gender differences in behavioral inhibitory control under evoked acute stress: An event-related potential study

Purpose

This study investigated gender differences in behavioral inhibitory control among college students under acute stress state by using event-related potential technique.

Methods

Acute stress was evoked in 41 college students (22 males and 19 females) using the Trier Social Stress paradigm, and the neutral state was matched using out-of-speech reading, with subjects completing a two-choice Oddball task in each of the two states. In combination with the ERP technique, the area under the stress curve, reaction time, number of errors, and the difference waves between the two stimulus conditions in the frontal-central region N2 wave amplitude and the parietal-central region P3 wave amplitude were compared between the two groups of subjects in the stressful and neutral state.

Results

The results revealed that the area under the stress curve was larger under the stress condition compared to the neutral condition, and the area under the stress curve was larger in females than in males. Behavioral results showed no statistically significant differences in reaction time and number of errors between the two genders in the acute stress condition. The ERP results showed that the wave amplitudes of N2 and P3 decreased significantly in both genders in the acute stress state. The decrease in N2 amplitude was greater in females during the transition from neutral to stressful condition, while the difference in P3 amplitude was not statistically significant in both genders.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that evoked acute stress can promote behavioral inhibitory control in both genders and that females are more sensitive to acute stress state.

Attentional enhancement predicts individual differences in visual working memory under go/no-go search conditions

Attention-control processes transfer relevant information to visual working memory (WM) and prevent irrelevant information from consuming WM resources. Although event-related potentials (ERPs) have revealed attention-control processes associated with enhancement of relevant stimuli (targets) and suppression of irrelevant stimuli (distractors), only the suppressive processes have been found to predict WM capacity. We hypothesised a link between target-enhancement processes and WM capacity would be revealed in a task that requires more control than the conventional visual search paradigms used to study target selection. Here, participants searched for a pop-out target on Go trials and withheld responses on an equal number of randomly intermixed No-Go trials, depending on the colour of the stimulus array. Magnitudes of ERP indices associated with target enhancement (the singleton detection positivity, SDP, and N2pc) were positively correlated with individual differences in WM capacity. These relationships vanished when participants searched for the pop-out target on every trial, regardless of stimulus-array colour. Inhibitory processes associated with suppressing distractors (PD) and withholding responses (no-go P3) on No-Go trials did not predict WM capacity. These findings indicate that target-enhancement mechanisms control access to WM in search tasks that require dynamic control and disconfirm the view that the gateway to WM is entirely inhibitory by nature.

Time of Day Effects on Inhibitory Functioning: Cognitive and Neural Evidence of Sundowning in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a prodromal phase of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is characterized by episodic memory dysfunction, but inhibitory deficits have also been commonly reported. Time of day (TOD) effects have been confirmed in 1) healthy aging on cognitive processes such as inhibitory control, and 2) on behavior in AD (termed the sundowning effect), but no such research has addressed aMCI. Objective: The present study examined the impact of TOD on the behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of inhibition in 54 individuals with aMCI and 52 healthy controls (HCs), all of morning chronotype. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to complete two inhibition tasks (Go-NoGo and Flanker) during their optimal (morning) or non-optimal (evening) TOD, while electroencephalography was recorded. Results: Both tasks elicited changes in N2 and P3 event-related potential (ERP) components, which commonly index inhibitory functioning. Analyses showed that the Go-NoGo difference in P3 amplitude was reduced in individuals with aMCI relative to HCs. Compared to HCs, the Flanker difference in P3 amplitude was also reduced and coincided with more errors in the aMCI group. Notably, these behavioral and ERP differences were exaggerated in the non-optimal TOD relative to the optimal TOD. Conclusion: Findings confirm the presence of inhibition deficits in aMCI and provide novel evidence of sundowning effects on inhibitory control in aMCI. Results reinforce the need to consider the influences of TOD in clinical assessments involving individuals with aMCI.

Comparison of Neural Correlates of Reactive Inhibition in Cocaine, Heroin, and Polydrug Users through a Contextual Go/No-Go Task Using Event-Related Potentials

Simple Summary

Witnessing the current increase in the use of substances in society and considering the associated pervasive relapse rate, the management of addictions remains a significant challenge. The identification of biomarkers that are linked to specific profiles of consumption would allow a more targeted, and therefore, more effective care. In this view, the present study evaluates and compares the cognitive performance usually associated with substance use disorder—inhibitory control, attentional bias, and error detection—of heroin, cocaine, and polydrug users to matched healthy controls. Simultaneously, the addition of measurement of the modulation of brain activity during the task (event-related potentials technique) offers a reliable representation of the neuronal mechanisms underlying cognitive functioning. The results reveal substance-specific neural patterns of response, notably a more deleterious impact on polydrug use, and, despite nonsignificant results, suggest a more drastically affected cognitive functioning in cocaine users. Such evidence refines our knowledge of the specific mode of action of each substance. Ultimately, knowing their neural signature will lead to the implementation of more targeted interventions, thereby allowing specific needs to be addressed.

Abstract

Recent global data indicates a worldwide increase in polydrug use associated with a shift from recreational to productive habits of consumption. Such non-responsible abuse of substances (alcohol, cocaine, heroin, etc.) is likely to lead to addictive disorders that are characterized by various neuropsychopharmacological effects. A main cognitive function involved in the onset and long-term maintenance of addiction is reactive inhibition, i.e., the ability to withhold a prepotent motor dominant response. In the present study, 63 (poly)drug user patients who were undergoing a detoxification program, in addition to 19 healthy controls matched for gender, age, and education, were subjected to a “contextual Go/No-Go task” with concomitant electroencephalography. Stimuli were superimposed on three contextual backgrounds: control (black screen), drug-unrelated (neutral pictures), or drug-related (pictures related to drug consumption). Of these patients, 23 were cocaine users (CU), 21 were heroin users (HU), and 19 were polydrug users (PDU). The main results showed that (1) at the behavioral level, more commission errors occurred with the PDU patients compared to the healthy controls; (2) at the neurophysiological level, specific alterations were found on classical event-related potentials that index reactive inhibition. Indeed, the higher rate of errors in the PDU group was subtended by both reduced amplitude and latency on the ∆N2 component and increased ∆P3 latency compared to controls. These data clearly suggest a more deleterious impact of polydrug use on inhibitory functions. In addition, our results provide evidence of reduced ERN amplitude in cocaine users, suggesting that impaired performance monitoring and error-processing may support impaired awareness, thereby preventing these patients from changing their behaviors.

Impact of Early Childhood Malnutrition on Adult Brain Function: An Evoked-Related Potentials Study

More than 200 million children under the age of 5 years are affected by malnutrition worldwide according to the World Health Organization. The Barbados Nutrition Study (BNS) is a 55-year longitudinal study on a Barbadian cohort with histories of moderate to severe protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) limited to the first year of life and a healthy comparison group. Using quantitative electroencephalography (EEG), differences in brain function during childhood (lower alpha1 activity and higher theta, alpha2 and beta activity) have previously been highlighted between participants who suffered from early PEM and controls. In order to determine whether similar differences persisted into adulthood, our current study used recordings obtained during a Go-No-Go task in a subsample of the original BNS cohort [population size (N) = 53] at ages 45–51 years. We found that previously malnourished adults [sample size (n) = 24] had a higher rate of omission errors on the task relative to controls (n = 29). Evoked-Related Potentials (ERP) were significantly different in participants with histories of early PEM, who presented with lower N2 amplitudes. These findings are typically associated with impaired conflict monitoring and/or attention deficits and may therefore be linked to the attentional and executive function deficits that have been previously reported in this cohort in childhood and again in middle adulthood.

Acute Sleep Deprivation Impairs Motor Inhibition in Table Tennis Athletes: An ERP Study

Excellent response inhibition is the basis for outstanding competitive athletic performance, and sleep may be an important factor affecting athletes’ response inhibition. This study investigates the effect of sleep deprivation on athletes’ response inhibition, and its differentiating effect on non-athlete controls’ performance, with the aim of helping athletes effectively improve their response inhibition ability through sleep pattern manipulation. Behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) data were collected from 36 participants (16 table tennis athletes and 20 general college students) after 36 h of sleep deprivation using ERP techniques and a stop-signal task. Sleep deprivation’s different effects on response inhibition in the two groups were explored through repeated-measures ANOVA. Behavioral data showed that in a baseline state, stop-signal response time was significantly faster in table tennis athletes than in non-athlete controls, and appeared significantly longer after sleep deprivation in both groups. ERP results showed that at baseline state, N2, ERN, and P3 amplitudes were lower in table tennis athletes than in non-athlete controls, and corresponding significant decreases were observed in non-athlete controls after 36 h of sleep deprivation. Table tennis athletes showed a decrease in P3 amplitude and no significant difference in N2 and ERN amplitudes, after 36 h of sleep deprivation compared to the baseline state. Compared to non-athlete controls, table tennis athletes had better response inhibition, and the adverse effects of sleep deprivation on response inhibition occurred mainly in the later top-down motor inhibition process rather than in earlier automated conflict detection and monitoring.

Chronic academic stress facilitates response inhibition: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

Previous studies have found that acute stress can modulate response inhibition. However, the effect of chronic stress on response inhibition has not been investigated. A major examination was adopted as a chronic stressor in this study. Both the stress and control groups performed a modified Go/Nogo task. In each trial, a probe stimulus (left or right arrow) was presented immediately after the Go/Nogo task. The probe reaction time (RT) was used as an index of cognitive load during the task. Event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by Go/Nogo stimuli were investigated. The RTs for the Go stimulus and the probe stimulus were shorter for the stress group than for the control group. This superior performance by stressed participants might suggest a promoted task processing efficiency during the dual task under stress. A smaller probe RT effect (RT_Nogo - RT_Go) was found in the stress group than in the control group, indicating a facilitatory effect of stress on conflict resolution. The ERP results showed that the P2 Go/Nogo effect was smaller for the stress group than for the control group, driven by an increased P2 amplitude after Go trials for the stress group. This might indicate an enhancement of attentional resource allocation to the Go stimuli under stress. Both the Nogo P3 amplitude and the P3 Go/Nogo effect were enhanced in the stress group than in the control group, suggesting that conflict resolution was enhanced under stress. These results demonstrate that chronic academic stress might facilitate response inhibition by promoting conflict resolution.

The field of expertise modulates the time course of neural processes associated with inhibitory control in a sport decision-making task

Inhibitory control (IC), the ability to suppress inappropriate actions, can be improved by regularly facing complex and dynamic situations requiring flexible behaviors, such as in the context of intensive sport practice. However, researchers have not clearly determined whether and how this improvement in IC transfers to ecological and nonecological computer-based tasks. We explored the spatiotemporal dynamics of changes in the brain activity of three groups of athletes performing sport-nonspecific and sport-specific Go/NoGo tasks with video footages of table tennis situations to address this question. We compared table tennis players (n = 20), basketball players (n = 20) and endurance athletes (n = 17) to identify how years of practicing a sport in an unpredictable versus predictable environment shape the IC brain networks and increase the transfer effects to untrained tasks. Overall, the table tennis group responded faster than the two other groups in both Go/NoGo tasks. The electrical neuroimaging analyses performed in the sport-specific Go/NoGo task revealed that this faster response time was supported by an early engagement of brain structures related to decision-making processes in a time window where inhibition processes typically occur. Our collective findings have relevant applied perspectives, as they highlight the importance of designing more ecological domain-related tasks to effectively capture the complex decision-making processes acquired in real-life situations. Finally, the limited effects from sport practice to laboratory-based tasks found in this study question the utility of cognitive training intervention, whose effects would remain specific to the practice environment.

Distinct Patterns of Automatic and Controlled Incongruent Information Processing in the Human Brain

It is a fundamental ability to discriminate incongruent information in daily activity. However, the underlying neural dynamics are still unclear. Using stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG), in this study, we investigated the fine-grained and different states of incongruent information processing in patients with refractory epilepsy who underwent intracranial electrode implantation. All patients performed a delayed match-to-sample paradigm in the sequential pairs of visual stimuli (S1 followed by S2). Participants were asked to discriminate whether the relevant feature of S2 was identical to S1 while ignoring the irrelevant feature. The spatiotemporal cortical responses evoked by different conditions were calculated and compared, respectively, in the context of brain intrinsic functional networks. In total, we obtained SEEG recordings from 241 contacts in gray matter. In the processing of irrelevant incongruent information, the activated brain areas included the superior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus. By comparing the relevant incongruent condition with the congruent condition, the activated brain areas included the middle frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and posterior cingulate cortex. We demonstrated the dynamics of incongruent information processing with high spatiotemporal resolution and suggested that the process of automatic detection of irrelevant incongruent information requires the involvement of local regions and relatively few networks. Meanwhile, controlled discrimination of relevant incongruent information requires the participation of extensive regions and a wide range of nodes in the network. Furthermore, both the frontoparietal control network and default mode network were engaged in the incongruent information processing.