Cognitive control in the eye of the beholder: Electrocortical theta and alpha modulation during response preparation in a cued saccade task

Anxiety Symptoms in Young Children Are Associated With a Maladaptive Neurobehavioral Profile of Error Responding

BACKGROUND

Childhood anxiety symptoms have been linked to alterations in cognitive control and error processing, but the diverse findings on neural markers of anxiety in young children, which vary by severity and developmental stage, suggest the need for a wider perspective. Integrating new neural markers with established ones, such as the error-related negativity, the error positivity, and frontal theta, could clarify this association. Error-related alpha suppression (ERAS) is a recently proposed index of post-error attentional engagement that has not yet been explored in children with anxiety.

METHODS

To identify neurobehavioral profiles of anxiety in young children by integrating ERAS with the error-related negativity, error positivity, frontal theta, and post-error performance indicators, we employed K-means clustering as an unsupervised multimetric approach. For this, we first aimed to confirm the presence and scalp distribution of ERAS in young children. We performed event-related potentials and spectral analysis of electroencephalogram data collected during a Go/NoGo task (Zoo Task) completed by 181 children (ages 4-7 years; 103 female) who were sampled from across the clinical-to-nonclinical range of anxiety severity using the Child Behavior Checklist.

RESULTS

Results confirmed ERAS, showing lower post-error alpha power, maximal suppression at occipital sites, and less ERAS in younger children. K-means clustering revealed that high anxiety and younger age were associated with reduction in ERAS and frontal theta, less negative error-related negativity, enlarged error positivity, more post-error slowing, and reduced post-error accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate a link between ERAS, maladaptive neural mechanisms of attention elicited by errors, and anxiety in young children, suggesting that anxiety may arise from or interfere with attention and error processing.

The neural dynamics of conflict adaptation induced by conflict observation: Evidence from univariate and multivariate analysis

Conflict adaptation can be expressed as greater performance (shorter response time and lower error rate) after incongruent trials when compared to congruent trials. It has been observed in designs that minimize confounding factors, i.e., feature integration, contingency learning, and temporal learning. Our current study aimed to further elucidate the temporal evolution mechanisms of conflict adaptation. To address this issue, the current study employed a combination of behavioral, univariate, and multivariate analysis (MVPA) methods in a modified color-word Stroop task, where half of the trials required button presses (DO trials), and the other half only required observation (LOOK trials). Both behavioral and the ERP results (N450 and SP) in the LOOK-DO transition trials revealed significant conflict adaptation without feature integration, contingency learning, and temporal learning, providing support for the conflict monitoring theory. Furthermore, during the LOOK trials, significant Stroop effect in the N450 and SP components were observed, indicating that conflict monitoring occurred at the stimulus level and triggered reactive control adjustments. The MVPA results decoded the congruent-incongruent and incongruent-incongruent conditions during the conflict adjustment phase but not during the conflict monitoring phase, emphasizing the unique contribution of conflict adjustment to conflict adaptation. The current research findings provided more compelling supporting evidence for the conflict monitoring theory, while also indicating that future studies should employ the present design to elucidate the specific processes of conflict adaptation.

On the Relevance of Posterior and Midfrontal Theta Activity for Visuospatial Attention

The aim of this study was to examine whether oscillatory activity in the theta-band is relevant for selective visuospatial attention when there is a need for the suppression of interfering and distracting information. A variant of the Eriksen flanker task was employed with bilateral arrays: one array consisting of a target and congruent or incongruent flankers and the second array consisting of neutral distractors. The bilateral arrays were preceded either by a 100% valid spatial cue or by a neutral cue. In the cue-target interval, a major burst in medial frontal theta power was observed, which was largest in the spatial cue condition. In the latter condition, additionally a posterior theta increase was observed that was larger over sites ipsilateral to the forthcoming target array. Functional connectivity analyses revealed that this pretarget posterior theta was related to the midfrontal theta. No such effects were observed in the neutral cue condition. After onset of the bilateral arrays, a major burst in posterior theta activity was observed in both cue conditions, which again was larger above sites ipsilateral to the target array. Furthermore, this posterior theta was in all cases related to the midfrontal theta. Taken together, the findings suggest that a fronto-posterior theta network plays an important role in the suppression of irrelevant and conflicting visual information. The results also suggest that the reciprocal relation between visuospatial attention and executive response control may be closer than commonly thought.

Mind-wandering does not always rhyme with proactive functioning! Changes in the temporal dynamics of the mPFC-mediated theta oscillations during moments of mind-wandering

The reduced engagement of the cognitive control network has been documented widely during mind-wandering (MW). However, it remains unknown how MW affects the neural dynamics of cognitive control processes. From this perspective, we explored neural dynamics mediated by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Their engagement can be both transient (or reactive) and anticipated (or proactive). A total of fortyseven healthy subjects (37 females) were engaged in a long-lasting sustained-attention Go/NoGo task. Subjective probes were used to detect MW episodes. Channel-based EEG time-frequency analysis was performed to measure the theta oscillations, an index of the mPFC activity. The theta oscillations were computed immediately after conflictual NoGo trials to explore the reactive engagement of the mPFC. Proactive control was measured on the Go trials preceded the NoGo. Behaviorally, periods of MW were associated with an increase in errors and in RT variability in comparison to on-task periods. The analysis of the frontal midline theta power (MFθ) revealed that MW periods were associated with lower anticipated/proactive engagement and similar transient/reactive engagement of mPFC-mediated processes. Moreover, the communication between the mPFC and the DLPFC, as revealed by the poorer theta synchronization between these two regions, was also impaired during MW periods. Our results provide new insights about performance impairment during MW. They could be an important step in improving the existing understanding of the altered performances that are reported for some disorders that are known to be associated with excessive MW.

Modeling brain dynamics and gaze behavior: Starting point bias and drift rate relate to frontal midline theta oscillations

Frontal midline theta oscillatory dynamics have been implicated as an important neural signature of inhibitory control. However, most proactive cognitive control studies rely on behavioral tasks where individual differences are inferred through button presses. We applied computational modeling to further refine our understanding of theta dynamics in a cued anti-saccade task with gaze-contingent eye tracking. Using a drift diffusion model, increased frontal midline theta power during high-conflict, relative to low-conflict, trials predicted a more conservative style of responding through the starting point (bias). During both high- and low-conflict trials, increases in frontal midline theta also predicted improvements in response efficiency (drift rate). Regression analyses provided support for the importance of the starting point bias, which was associated with frontal midline theta over the course of the task above-and-beyond both drift rate and mean reaction time. Our findings provide a more thorough understanding of proactive gaze control by linking trial-by-trial increases of frontal midline theta to a shift in starting point bias facilitating a more neutral style of responding.

Neural Underpinnings of Proactive and Preemptive Adjustments of Action Control

This study aimed to trace the neural basis of proactive and preemptive adjustments of executive control and their effects on online processing of response conflict. In two EEG experiments, participants performed the flanker task with predictive cueing of conflict. The following questions were addressed: "Does conflict cueing improve performance?" We observed improved behavioral performance in the predictive condition, suggesting that participants proactively utilized the cues to prepare for the upcoming demands. "How is conflict processing affected by predictive cueing?" Conflict-related modulations of midfrontal N2 and theta power were smaller in the predictive than in the neutral condition. This suggests that proactive control suppressed the impact of incongruent flankers so that the conflict was reduced, and so was the involvement of online control. "Is proactive control implemented through preactivation of online control?" Conflict cueing increased midfrontal theta power also before target onset, suggesting preactivation of the control processes beforehand. "Do proactive and reactive control depend on common or unique processes?" Unlike the online control, the proactive control triggered a burst of theta power in the right hemisphere's dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal cortices, connected with the midfrontal area via theta phase coherence. This indicates that the two control modes involve partially unique but coordinated neural processes. "Is preemptive control implemented through modulations of visual processing?" Predictive cueing modulated both the pretarget preparatory alpha desynchronization and the target selection-related posterior contralateral negativity (N2pc and sustained posterior contralateral negativity), in line with the hypothesis of preemptive tuning of sensory selection aimed at reducing the impact of conflicting stimuli.

An Action-Independent Role for Midfrontal Theta Activity Prior to Error Commission

Error-related electroencephalographic (EEG) signals have been widely studied concerning the human cognitive capability of differentiating between erroneous and correct actions. Midfrontal error-related negativity (ERN) and theta band oscillations are believed to underlie post-action error monitoring. However, it remains elusive how early monitoring activity is trackable and what are the pre-response brain mechanisms related to performance monitoring. Moreover, it is still unclear how task-specific parameters, such as cognitive demand or motor control, influence these processes. Here, we aimed to test pre- and post-error EEG patterns for different types of motor responses and investigate the neuronal mechanisms leading to erroneous actions. We implemented a go/no-go paradigm based on keypresses and saccades. Participants received an initial instruction about the direction of response to be given based on a facial cue and a subsequent one about the type of action to be performed based on an object cue. The paradigm was tested in 20 healthy volunteers combining EEG and eye tracking. We found significant differences in reaction time, number, and type of errors between the two actions. Saccadic responses reflected a higher number of premature responses and errors compared to the keypress ones. Nevertheless, both led to similar EEG patterns, supporting previous evidence for increased ERN amplitude and midfrontal theta power during error commission. Moreover, we found pre-error decreased theta activity independent of the type of action. Source analysis suggested different origin for such pre- and post-error neuronal patterns, matching the anterior insular cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, respectively. This opposite pattern supports previous evidence of midfrontal theta not only as a neuronal marker of error commission but also as a predictor of action performance. Midfrontal theta, mostly associated with alert mechanisms triggering behavioral adjustments, also seems to reflect pre-response attentional mechanisms independently of the action to be performed. Our findings also add to the discussion regarding how salience network nodes interact during performance monitoring by suggesting that pre- and post-error patterns have different neuronal sources within this network.

Age-related positivity effect of emotional attention: time and frequency domain

Compared with their younger counterparts, older adults are inclined to allocate more attentional resources to positive over negative materials. This age-related positivity effect has been reported in various experimental paradigms; however, studies have not investigated the attention stage at which it appears or its potential neural mechanism. Thus, we investigated the time and frequency domain dynamics of younger and older adults during emotional attention processes. We obtained electroencephalography oscillation and event-related potential data for 20 older and 20 younger participants while they performed an emotional dot-probe task. We focused our time and frequency domain dynamics analyses on the posterior regions as a key structure for facial emotion perception and the frontal regions as a crucial structure for cognitive control. In the time domain, older adults showed an initial attentional shift to happy-related stimuli, whereas their younger counterparts did not demonstrate emotional modulation, as reflected by the N2pc component. The time-frequency decomposition was analyzed for the N2pc time window. The results showed that compared with younger adults, older adults showed an increased alpha power for happy faces in the right-posterior regions. Moreover, a parallel pattern was seen in frontal theta activity. The current findings highlight how electrocortical activity of the brain might moderate the tendency to prioritize positive information among healthy older adults. The emergence of an age-related positivity effect may be related to frontal cognitive control processing. These findings provide insight into the prevention and treatment of unsuccessful aging, such as late-life depression and anxiety.

A neuronal theta band signature of error monitoring during integration of facial expression cues

Error monitoring is the metacognitive process by which we are able to detect and signal our errors once a response has been made. Monitoring when the outcome of our actions deviates from the intended goal is crucial for behavior, learning, and the development of higher-order social skills. Here, we explored the neuronal substrates of error monitoring during the integration of facial expression cues using electroencephalography (EEG). Our goal was to investigate the signatures of error monitoring before and after a response execution dependent on the integration of facial cues. We followed the hypothesis of midfrontal theta as a robust neuronal marker of error monitoring since it has been consistently described as a mechanism to signal the need for cognitive control. Also, we hypothesized that EEG frequency-domain components might bring advantage to study error monitoring in complex scenarios as it carries information from locked and non-phase-locked signals. A challenging go/no-go saccadic paradigm was applied to elicit errors: integration of facial emotional signals and gaze direction was required to solve it. EEG data were acquired from twenty healthy participants and analyzed at the level of theta band activity during response preparation and execution. Although theta modulation has been consistently demonstrated during error monitoring, it is still unclear how early it starts to occur. We found theta power differences at midfrontal channels between correct and error trials. Theta was higher immediately after erroneous responses. Moreover, before response initiation we observed the opposite: lower theta preceding errors. These results suggest theta band activity not only as an index of error monitoring, which is needed to enhance cognitive control, but also as a requisite for success. This study adds to previous evidence for the role of theta band in error monitoring processes by revealing error-related patterns even before response execution in complex tasks, and using a paradigm requiring the integration of facial expression cues.

A developmental examination of medial frontal theta dynamics and inhibitory control

Medial frontal theta-band oscillations are a robust marker of action-outcome monitoring. In a large developmental sample (n = 432, 9-16 years), we examined whether phase and non-phase locked medial frontal theta power were related to inhibitory control among children and adolescents. Our results showed that the well-established increase in medial frontal theta power during inhibitory control was captured largely by non-phase locked dynamics, which partially mediated the positive effect of age on task performance. A person-centered approach also revealed latent classes of individuals based on their multivariate theta power dynamics (phase locked/non-phase locked, GO/NOGO). The class of individuals showing low phase locked and high non-phase locked medial frontal theta were significantly older, had better inhibitory control, scored higher on measures of general cognitive function, and were more efficient in their behavioural responses. The functional significance of phase and non-phase locked theta dynamics, and their potential changes, could have important implications for action-outcome monitoring and cognitive function in both typical and atypical development, as well as related psychopathology .

Investigating the consistency of ERPs across threatening situations among children and adolescents

Threat sensitivity is thought to be a precursor for anxiety. Yet it remains unknown whether individuals have consistently high neural activation to different threatening situations. The current study (N = 161, M_age = 11.26, SD = 1.79) used three ERPs from different threat-related events: 1) the P3 to receiving negative feedback; 2) the ERN to making mistakes; 3) the N170 to viewing angry faces. Participants also completed self-report measures of threat sensitivity, impulsivity, and demographics. In a follow-up analysis, we also investigated whether the results replicate when using the difference score for each ERP. Youth with higher self-reported sensitivity to threats and lower self-reported impulsivity had consistently higher neural activation to threatening situations. Males also had consistently higher neural activation to threats compared with females. When using the difference score, we found that youth with higher self-reported threat sensitivity had consistently higher neural activation to threats than nonthreats. Although it is common for youth to have high neural activation during at least one threatening situation (e.g., making mistakes), only ~12% of youth have consistently high neural activation across a variety of different threats. Thus, detecting youth who are sensitive to a variety of different threats may be an important avenue to investigate to identify youth most at risk for the development of anxiety.

Alpha oscillation during the performance of a new variant of working memory-guided saccade task: Evidence from behavioral and electroencephalographic analyses

Working memory (WM) can be considered as a limited-capacity system which is capable of saving information temporarily with the aim of processing. The aim of the present study was to establish whether eccentricity representation in WM could be decoded from eletroencephalography (EEG) alpha-band oscillation in parietal cortex during delay-period while performing memory-guided saccade (MGS) task. In this regard, we recorded EEG and Eye-tracking signals of 17 healthy volunteers in a variant version of MGS task. We designed the modified version of MGS task for the first time to investigate the effect of locating stimuli in two different positions, in a near (6°) eccentricity and far (12°) eccentricity on saccade error as a behavioral parameter. Another goal of study was to discern whether or not varying the stimuli loci can alter behavioral and eletroencephalographical data while performing the variant version of MGS task. Our findings demonstrate that saccade error for the near fixation condition is significantly smaller than the far from fixation condition. We observed an increase in alpha power in parietal lobe in near vs far conditions. In addition, the results indicate that the increase in alpha (8-12 Hz) power from fixation to memory was negatively correlated with saccade error. The novel approach of using simultaneous EEG/Eye-tracking recording in the modified MGS task provided both behavioral and electroencephalographic analyses for oscillatory activity during this new version of MGS task.

Linking the Rapid Cascade of Visuo-Attentional Processes to Successful Memory Encoding

While it is broadly accepted that attention modulates memory, the contribution of specific rapid attentional processes to successful encoding is largely unknown. To investigate this issue, we leveraged the high temporal resolution of electroencephalographic recordings to directly link a cascade of visuo-attentional neural processes to successful encoding: namely (1) the N2pc (peaking ~200 ms), which reflects stimulus-specific attentional orienting and allocation, (2) the sustained posterior-contralateral negativity (post-N2pc), which has been associated with sustained visual processing, (3) the contralateral reduction in oscillatory alpha power (contralateral reduction in alpha > 200 ms), which has also been independently related to attentionally sustained visual processing. Each of these visuo-attentional processes was robustly predictive of successful encoding, and, moreover, each enhanced memory independently of the classic, longer-latency, conceptually related, difference-due-to memory (Dm) effect. Early latency midfrontal theta power also promoted successful encoding, with at least part of this influence being mediated by the later latency Dm effect. These findings markedly expand current knowledge by helping to elucidate the intimate relationship between attentional modulations of perceptual processing and effective encoding for later memory retrieval.

A person-centered examination of emotion dysregulation, sensitivity to threat, and impulsivity among children and adolescents: An ERP study

Objectives

Adolescence often is characterized by the onset of social anxiety and risk taking; yet, not all youth are anxious and/or risk takers. There are several factors that may help differentiate youth with anxiety (e.g., threat sensitivity and emotion dysregulation) and youth who take risks (e.g., impulsivity and emotion dysregulation). We conducted a latent class analysis to identify groups of youth who differ in these processes, and then investigated group differences on the error-related negativity, an ERP that has been differentially associated with threat sensitivity and impulsivity.

Method

Youth (N = 1313, M_age = 11, range = 8–15 years) completed a survey assessing their emotion dysregulation, sensitivity to threat, and impulsivity. A subsample (N = 424) also completed a go/no-go task while EEG was recorded.

Results and conclusions

Four groups were identified with differential levels of emotion dysregulation, sensitivity to threat, and impulsivity. Adolescents had greater odds than children of being in the High_Dysregulation/ThreatSensitivity or ModerateDysregulation/HighImpulsivity Groups in comparison to two other groups with lower scores. The High_Dysregulation/ThreatSensitivity Group had the largest ERN, while the ModerateDysregulation/HighImpulsivity Group had the smallest ERN. The ERN may be a potential biomarker to help distinguish between different profiles of adolescents who may be at risk for either anxiety or risk taking.

A longitudinal study investigating trajectories of sensitivity to threat over time and their association with alpha asymmetry among children and adolescents

Research has yet to investigate trajectories of sensitivity to threat across childhood and adolescence. Further, neural associations of these trajectories remain unknown. The current 3-year study used a latent class growth curve analysis to investigate whether there were distinct trajectories of sensitivity to threat among children and adolescents over time (N = 363; age range at Time 1 = 8-14). We also examined whether alpha asymmetry (a neural index of motivational tendencies) was associated with the different trajectories. Results revealed three distinct trajectory groups (1) high-stable sensitivity to threat, (2) moderate-increasing sensitivity to threat and (3) low-stable sensitivity to threat. The high-stable sensitivity to threat group had greater right frontal asymmetry activation (i.e., greater neural avoidance motivation) than the other two groups. Additionally, females, those with higher parental education, and individuals with more advanced pubertal development (but not age) had greater odds of being part of the high-stable sensitivity to threat group compared to the other groups. Of interest, puberty rather than age may be an important indicator of heightened sensitivity to threat.

Medial frontal negativities predict performance improvements during motor sequence but not motor adaptation learning

Alterations in our environment require us to learn or alter motor skills to remain efficient. Also, damage or injury may require the relearning of motor skills. Two types have been identified: movement adaptation and motor sequence learning. Doyonet al. (2003, Distinct contribution of the cortico-striatal and cortico-cerebellar systems to motor skill learning. Neuropsychologia, 41(3), 252-262) proposed a model to explain the neural mechanisms related to adaptation (cortico-cerebellar) and motor sequence learning (cortico-striatum) tasks. We hypothesized that medial frontal negativities (MFNs), event-related electrocortical responses including the error-related negativity (ERN) and correct-response-related negativity (CRN), would be trait biomarkers for skill in motor sequence learning due to their relationship with striatal neural generators in a network involving the anterior cingulate and possibly the supplementary motor area. We examined 36 participants' improvement in a motor adaptation and a motor sequence learning task and measured MFNs elicited in a separate Spatial Stroop (conflict) task. We found both ERN and CRN strongly predicted performance improvement in the sequential motor task but not in the adaptation task, supporting this aspect of the Doyon model. Interestingly, the CRN accounted for additional unique variance over the variance shared with the ERN suggesting an expansion of the model.

EEG Integrated Platform Lossless (EEG-IP-L) pre-processing pipeline for objective signal quality assessment incorporating data annotation and blind source separation

BACKGROUND

The methods available for pre-processing EEG data are rapidly evolving as researchers gain access to vast computational resources; however, the field currently lacks a set of standardized approaches for data characterization, efficient interactive quality control review procedures, and large-scale automated processing that is compatible with High Performance Computing (HPC) resources.

NEW METHOD

In this paper we describe an infrastructure for the development of standardized procedures for semi and fully automated pre-processing of EEG data. Our pipeline incorporates several methods to isolate cortical signal from noise, maintain maximal information from raw recordings and provide comprehensive quality control and data visualization. In addition, batch processing procedures are integrated to scale up analyses for processing hundreds or thousands of data sets using HPC clusters.

RESULTS

We demonstrate here that by using the EEG Integrated Platform Lossless (EEG-IP-L) pipeline's signal quality annotations, significant increase in data retention is achieved when applying subsequent post-processing ERP segment rejection procedures. Further, we demonstrate that the increase in data retention does not attenuate the ERP signal.

CONCLUSIONS

The EEG-IP-L state provides the infrastructure for an integrated platform that includes long-term data storage, minimal data manipulation and maximal signal retention, and flexibility in post processing strategies.

Towards a Pragmatic Approach to a Psychophysiological Unit of Analysis for Mental and Brain Disorders: An EEG-Copeia for Neurofeedback

This article proposes what we call an "EEG-Copeia" for neurofeedback, like the "Pharmacopeia" for psychopharmacology. This paper proposes to define an "EEG-Copeia" as an organized list of scientifically validated EEG markers, characterized by a specific association with an identified cognitive process, that define a psychophysiological unit of analysis useful for mental or brain disorder evaluation and treatment. A characteristic of EEG neurofeedback for mental and brain disorders is that it targets a EEG markers related to a supposed cognitive process, whereas conventional treatments target clinical manifestations. This could explain why EEG neurofeedback studies encounter difficulty in achieving reproducibility and validation. The present paper suggests that a first step to optimize EEG neurofeedback protocols and future research is to target a valid EEG marker. The specificity of the cognitive skills trained and learned during real time feedback of the EEG marker could be enhanced and both the reliability of neurofeedback training and the therapeutic impact optimized. However, several of the most well-known EEG markers have seldom been applied for neurofeedback. Moreover, we lack a reliable and valid EEG targets library for further RCT to evaluate the efficacy of neurofeedback in mental and brain disorders. With the present manuscript, our aim is to foster dialogues between cognitive neuroscience and EEG neurofeedback according to a psychophysiological perspective. The primary objective of this review was to identify the most robust EEG target. EEG markers linked with one or several clearly identified cognitive-related processes will be identified. The secondary objective was to organize these EEG markers and related cognitive process in a psychophysiological unit of analysis matrix inspired by the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project.

Midfrontal neural dynamics distinguish between general control and inhibition-specific processes in the stopping of motor actions

Action inhibition, the suppression of action impulses, is crucial for goal-directed behaviour. In order to dissociate neural mechanisms specific to motor stopping from general control processes which are also relevant for other types of conflict adjustments, we compared midfrontal oscillatory activity in human volunteers via EEG between action inhibition and two other types of motor conflicts, unexpected action activation and unexpected action change. Error rates indicated that action activation was significantly easier than the other two equally demanding tasks. Midfrontal brain oscillations were significantly stronger for inhibition than for both other conflict types. This was driven by increases in the delta range (2-3 Hz), which were higher for inhibition than activation and action change. Increases in the theta range (4-7 Hz) were equally high for inhibition and change, but lower for action activation. These findings suggest that inhibition is facilitated by neural mechanisms specific to motor-stopping, with midfrontal delta being a potentially selective marker of motor inhibition.

Neural Substrates of Inhibitory Control Maturation in Adolescence

Inhibitory control matures through adolescence and into early adulthood, impacting decision-making. Impairments in inhibitory control are associated with various psychopathologies, many of which emerge during adolescence. In this review, we examine the neural basis of developmental improvements in inhibitory control by integrating findings from humans and non-human primates, identifying the structural and functional specialization of executive brain systems that mediates cognitive maturation. Behavioral manifestations of response inhibition suggest that adolescents are capable of producing adult level responses on occasion, but lack the ability to engage systems mediating response inhibition in a consistent fashion. Maturation is associated with changes in structural anatomy as well as local and systems-level connectivity. Functional changes revealed by neuroimaging and neurophysiology indicate that maturation of inhibitory control is achieved through improvements in response preparation, error processing, and planned responses.

Impaired Midline Theta Power and Connectivity During Proactive Cognitive Control in Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Disrupted proactive cognitive control, a form of early selection and active goal maintenance, is hypothesized to underlie the broad cognitive deficits observed in patients with schizophrenia (SPs). Current research suggests that the disrupted activation within and connectivity between regions of the cognitive control network contribute to disrupted proactive cognitive control; however, no study has examined these mechanisms using an AX Continuous Performance Test task in schizophrenia.

METHODS

Twenty-six SPs (17 male subjects; mean age 34.46 ± 8.77 years) and 28 healthy control participants (HCs; 16 male subjects; mean age 31.43 ± 7.23 years) underwent an electroencephalogram while performing the AX Continuous Performance Test. To examine the extent of activation and level of connectivity within the cognitive control network, power, intertrial phase clustering, and intersite phase clustering metrics were calculated and analyzed.

RESULTS

SPs exhibited expected general decrements in behavioral performance relative to HCs and a more selective deficit in conditions requiring proactive cognitive control. Additionally, SPs exhibited deficits in midline theta power and connectivity during proactive cognitive control trials. Specifically, HCs exhibited significantly greater theta power for B cues relative to A cues, whereas SPs exhibited no significant differences between A- and B-cue theta power. Additionally, differential theta connectivity patterns were observed in SPs and HCs. Behavioral measures of proactive cognitive control predicted functional outcomes in SPs.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that low-frequency midline theta activity is selectively disrupted during proactive cognitive control in SPs. The disrupted midline theta activity may reflect a failure of SPs to proactively recruit cognitive control processes.

Conflict-related medial frontal theta as an endophenotype for alcohol use disorder

Diminished cognitive control in alcohol use disorder (AUD) is thought to be mediated by prefrontal cortex circuitry dysregulation. Research testing the relationship between AUD and specific cognitive control psychophysiological correlates, such as medial frontal (MF) theta-band EEG power, is scarce, and the etiology of this relationship is largely unknown. The current report tested relationship between pathological alcohol use through young adulthood and reduced conflict-related theta at age 29 in a large prospective population-based twin sample. Greater lifetime AUD symptomatology was associated with reduced MF theta power during response conflict, but not alpha-band visual attention processing. Follow-up analyses using cotwin control analysis and biometric modeling suggested that genetic influences, and not the consequences of sustained AUD symptomatology, explained the theta-AUD association. Results provide strong evidence that AUD is genetically related to diminished conflict-related MF theta, and advance MF theta as a promising electrophysiological correlate of AUD-related dysfunctional frontal circuitry.

Feedback-Related Electroencephalogram Oscillations of Athletes With High and Low Sports Anxiety

We investigated the relationship between performance-related anxiety and the neural response to error feedback that was delivered during the execution of a time estimation task. Using the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS-2), we selected university athletes high and low in sports anxiety. Participants executed a time estimation task where they were instructed to estimate 1 s by pressing a button after a sound cue. They performed this task while their performance was being evaluated by an experimenter (evaluation condition) and also while alone (in a no-evaluation condition). We tested whether feedback-related brain activities may increase in amplitude in the evaluation condition compared to the control condition - especially for athletes who report high performance-related anxiety. We focused on oscillations of sub-delta, delta, and theta frequency bands phase-locked to the feedback onset. Time-frequency analyses revealed that the magnitude of both the sub-delta component (0.3-1.2 Hz) and the theta component (4-8 Hz) were larger in incorrect than correct trials. In addition, the theta component was smaller for athletes high in sports anxiety than for athletes low in sports anxiety. The delta component was overall larger for correct than incorrect feedback. Further, athletes high in sports anxiety exhibited a larger delta component (1.5-3.5 Hz) for correct feedback in the evaluation condition than in the no-evaluation condition. Our results suggest that evaluation by others may increase the delta oscillation associated with correct feedback processing - especially among athletes high in sports anxiety.

Time-frequency approaches to investigating changes in feedback processing during childhood and adolescence

Processing feedback from the environment is an essential function during development to adapt behavior in advantageous ways. One measure of feedback processing, the feedback negativity (FN), is an ERP observed following the presentation of feedback. Findings detailing developmental changes in the FN have been mixed, possibly due to limitations in traditional ERP measurement methods. Recent work shows that both theta and delta frequency activity contribute to the FN; utilizing time-frequency methods to measure change in power and phase in these frequency bands may provide more accurate representation of feedback processing development in childhood and adolescence. We employ time-frequency power and intertrial phase synchrony measures, in addition to conventional time-domain ERP methods, to examine the development of feedback processing in the theta (4-7 Hz) and delta (.1-3 Hz) bands throughout adolescence. A sample of 54 female participants (8-17 years old) completed a gambling task while EEG was recorded. As expected, time-domain ERP amplitudes showed no association with age. In contrast, significant effects were observed for the time-frequency measures, with theta power decreasing with age and delta power increasing with age. For intertrial phase synchrony, delta synchrony increased with age, while age-related changes in theta synchrony differed for gains and losses. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of considering time-frequency dynamics when exploring how the processing of feedback develops through late childhood and adolescence. In particular, the role of delta band activity and theta synchrony appear central to understanding age-related changes in the neural response to feedback.

Alpha-band functional connectivity during cued versus implicit modality-specific anticipatory attention: EEG-source coherence analysis

The anticipation of future events based on a background experience is one of the main components of any goal-directed behavior. Anticipatory attention can be either voluntary (explicit) or involuntary (implicit). We presumed that these two types of anticipatory attention differed in terms of cortical functional organization. We examined this assumption with an experimental model consisting of three experimental sessions (cued attention, implicit learning, and baseline) that were equal in terms of stimuli, motor responses, and cognitive task. Participants were asked to discriminate the temporal order of stimuli within a pair presented in either the visual or auditory sensory modality. Prestimulus functional connectivity was assessed via alpha-band coherence computed in the source space for preselected regions of interests. Functional links between the cortices of the frontoparietal control system increased during the cued attention condition and did not increase during the implicit anticipation condition. The buildup of implicit anticipation was accompanied by the strengthening of functional links between the intraparietal, ventral premotor, and presupplementary motor areas. It was discovered that both cued and implicit types of anticipation were underlain by functional modality-specific cortical links.

Respond, don't react: The influence of mindfulness training on performance monitoring in older adults

A sizeable body of literature demonstrates positive effects of mindfulness training on brain, behavior, and psychological processes in both novice and expert practitioners as compared to non-meditators. However, only more recently has research begun to examine the specific mechanisms by which mindfulness exerts these effects. In the current study, we used event-related potentials (error-related negativity (ERN), error positivity (Pe)) to test the hypothesis that performance monitoring is one such mechanism. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in healthy older adults (n = 36), relevant because markers of performance monitoring are known to decline with normal aging. Compared to an active control condition, mindfulness participants showed an increase in the ERN, without an increase in the Pe. Participants in both groups reported a reduction in self-report of anxiety and self-judgment of one's own mental functioning, indicating the subjective impression of benefit from each intervention type. The current results are important insofar as they support the purported self-regulatory functions of mindfulness (i.e., learning to respond, not react), as well as demonstrating that such positive effects can be obtained in an older adult sample, both of which have important implications for intervention.

Post-error Brain Activity Correlates With Incidental Memory for Negative Words

The present study had three main objectives. First, we aimed to evaluate whether short-duration affective states induced by negative and positive words can lead to increased error-monitoring activity relative to a neutral task condition. Second, we intended to determine whether such an enhancement is limited to words of specific valence or is a general response to arousing material. Third, we wanted to assess whether post-error brain activity is associated with incidental memory for negative and/or positive words. Participants performed an emotional stop-signal task that required response inhibition to negative, positive or neutral nouns while EEG was recorded. Immediately after the completion of the task, they were instructed to recall as many of the presented words as they could in an unexpected free recall test. We observed significantly greater brain activity in the error-positivity (Pe) time window in both negative and positive trials. The error-related negativity amplitudes were comparable in both the neutral and emotional arousing trials, regardless of their valence. Regarding behavior, increased processing of emotional words was reflected in better incidental recall. Importantly, the memory performance for negative words was positively correlated with the Pe amplitude, particularly in the negative condition. The source localization analysis revealed that the subsequent memory recall for negative words was associated with widespread bilateral brain activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and in the medial frontal gyrus, which was registered in the Pe time window during negative trials. The present study has several important conclusions. First, it indicates that the emotional enhancement of error monitoring, as reflected by the Pe amplitude, may be induced by stimuli with symbolic, ontogenetically learned emotional significance. Second, it indicates that the emotion-related enhancement of the Pe occurs across both negative and positive conditions, thus it is preferentially driven by the arousal content of an affective stimuli. Third, our findings suggest that enhanced error monitoring and facilitated recall of negative words may both reflect responsivity to negative events. More speculatively, they can also indicate that post-error activity of the medial prefrontal cortex may selectively support encoding for negative stimuli and contribute to their privileged access to memory.

Emotional enhancement of error detection-The role of perceptual processing and inhibition monitoring in failed auditory stop trials

The first aim of the present study was to test whether arousing, aversive sounds can influence inhibitory task performance and lead to increased error monitoring relative to a neutral task condition. The second aim was to examine whether the enhancement of error monitoring in an affective context (if present) could be predicted from stop-signal-related brain activity. Participants performed an emotional stop-signal task that required response inhibition to aversive and neutral auditory stimuli. The behavioral data revealed that unpleasant sounds facilitated inhibitory processing by decreasing the stop-signal reaction time and increasing the inhibitory rate relative to neutral tones. Aversive sounds evoked larger N1, P3, and Pe components, indicating improvements in perceptual processing, inhibition, and conscious error monitoring. A first regression analysis, conducted regardless of the category of the stop signal, revealed that both selected indexes of stop-signal-related brain activity-the N1 and P3 amplitudes recorded in the unsuccessfully inhibited trials-significantly accounted for the Pe component variance, explaining a large amount of the observed variation (66%). A second regression model, focused on difference measures (emotional minus neutral), revealed that the affective increase in the P3 amplitude on failed stop trials was the only factor that significantly accounted for the emotional enhancement effect in the Pe amplitude. This suggests that, in general (regardless of stop-signal condition), error processing is stronger if the erroneous response directly follows the stimulus, which was effectively processed on both the perceptual and action-monitoring levels. However, only inhibition-monitoring evidence accounts for the emotional increase in conscious error detection.

Wronger than wrong: Graded mapping of the errors of an avatar in the performance monitoring system of the onlooker

EEG studies show that observing errors in one's own or others' actions triggers specific electro-cortical signatures in the onlooker's brain, but whether the brain error-monitoring system operates according to graded or discrete rules is still largely unknown. To explore this issue, we combined immersive virtual reality with EEG recording in participants who observed an avatar reaching-to-grasp a glass from a first-person perspective. The avatar could perform correct or erroneous actions. Erroneous grasps were defined as small or large depending on the magnitude of the trajectory deviation from the to-be-grasped glass. Results show that electro-cortical indices of error detection (indexed by ERN and mid-frontal theta oscillations), but not those of error awareness (indexed by error-Positivity), were gradually modulated by the magnitude of the observed errors. Moreover, the phase connectivity analysis revealed that enhancement of mid-frontal theta phase synchronization paralleled the magnitude of the observed error. Thus, theta oscillations represent an electro-cortical index of the degree of control exerted by mid-frontal regions whose activation depends on how much an observed action outcome results maladaptive for the onlooker. Our study provides novel neurophysiological evidence that the error monitoring system maps observed errors of different magnitude according to fine-grain, graded rather than all-or-none rules.

The impact of visual gaze direction on auditory object tracking

Subjective experience suggests that we are able to direct our auditory attention independent of our visual gaze, e.g when shadowing a nearby conversation at a cocktail party. But what are the consequences at the behavioural and neural level? While numerous studies have investigated both auditory attention and visual gaze independently, little is known about their interaction during selective listening. In the present EEG study, we manipulated visual gaze independently of auditory attention while participants detected targets presented from one of three loudspeakers. We observed increased response times when gaze was directed away from the locus of auditory attention. Further, we found an increase in occipital alpha-band power contralateral to the direction of gaze, indicative of a suppression of distracting input. Finally, this condition also led to stronger central theta-band power, which correlated with the observed effect in response times, indicative of differences in top-down processing. Our data suggest that a misalignment between gaze and auditory attention both reduce behavioural performance and modulate underlying neural processes. The involvement of central theta-band and occipital alpha-band effects are in line with compensatory neural mechanisms such as increased cognitive control and the suppression of task irrelevant inputs.

Proactive Control: Neural Oscillatory Correlates of Conflict Anticipation and Response Slowing

Proactive control allows us to anticipate environmental changes and adjust behavioral strategy. In the laboratory, investigators have used a number of different behavioral paradigms, including the stop-signal task (SST), to examine the neural processes of proactive control. Previous functional MRI studies of the SST have demonstrated regional responses to conflict anticipation-the likelihood of a stop signal or P(stop) as estimated by a Bayesian model-and reaction time (RT) slowing and how these responses are interrelated. Here, in an electrophysiological study, we investigated the time-frequency domain substrates of proactive control. The results showed that conflict anticipation as indexed by P(stop) was positively correlated with the power in low-theta band (3-5 Hz) in the fixation (trial onset)-locked interval, and go-RT was negatively correlated with the power in delta-theta band (2-8 Hz) in the go-locked interval. Stimulus prediction error was positively correlated with the power in the low-beta band (12-22 Hz) in the stop-locked interval. Further, the power of the P(stop) and go-RT clusters was negatively correlated, providing a mechanism relating conflict anticipation to RT slowing in the SST. Source reconstruction with beamformer localized these time-frequency activities close to brain regions as revealed by functional MRI in earlier work. These are the novel results to show oscillatory electrophysiological substrates in support of trial-by-trial behavioral adjustment for proactive control.