The ability to inhibit responses is central for situational behavior. However, the mechanisms how sensory information is used to inform inhibitory control processes are incompletely understood. In the current study, we examined neurophysiological processes of perception–action integration in response inhibition using the theory of event coding as a conceptual framework. Based on theoretical considerations, we focused on theta and alpha band activity in close connection to the functional neuroanatomical level using EEG beamforming. Moreover, we performed a network-based analysis of theta and alpha band activity. We show a seesaw-like relationship between medial and superior frontal cortex theta band activity and frontoparietal cortex alpha band activity during perception–action integration in response inhibition, depending on the necessity to reconfigure perception–action associations. When perception–action integration was more demanding, because perception–action associations (bindings) have to be reconfigured, there was an increase of theta and a decrease of alpha band activity. Vice versa, when there was no need to reconfigure perception–action bindings, theta band activity was low and alpha band activity was high. However, theta band processes seem to be most important for perception–action integration in response inhibition, because only the sensor-level network organization of theta band activity showed variations depending on the necessity to reconfigure perception–action associations. When no reconfiguration was necessary, the network architecture was more small-world-like, likely enabling efficient processing. When reconfigurations were necessary, the network organization becomes more random. These differences were particularly strong for fractions of the neurophysiological signal supposed to reflect response selection processes.
Background Catecholamines are important for cognitive control and the ability to adapt behavior (e.g., after response errors). A prominent drug that modulates the catecholaminergic system is methylphenidate. On the basis of theoretical consideration, we propose that the effects of methylphenidate on behavioral adaptation depend on prior learning experience. Methods In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study design, we examined the effect of methylphenidate (0.25 mg/kg) on post error behavioral adaptation processes in a group of n = 43 healthy young adults. Behavioral adaptation processes were examined in a working memory, modulated response selection task. The focus of the analysis was on order effects within the crossover study design to evaluate effects of prior learning/task experience. Results The effect of methylphenidate/placebo on post-error behavioral adaptation processes reverses depending on prior task experience. When there was no prior experience with the task, methylphenidate increased post-error slowing and thus intensified behavioral adaptation processes. However, when there was prior task experience, (i.e., when the placebo session was conducted first in the crossover design), methylphenidate even decreased post-error slowing and behavioral adaptation. Effect sizes were large and the power of the observed effects was higher than 95%. Conclusions The data suggest that catecholaminergic effects on cognitive control functions vary as a function of prior learning/task experience. The data establish a close link between learning/task familiarization and catecholaminergic effects for executive functions, which has not yet been studied, to our knowledge, but is of considerable clinical relevance. Theoretical implications are discussed.
Brain electrical activity in the theta frequency band is essential for cognitive control (e.g., during conflict monitoring), but is also evident in the resting state. The link between resting state theta activity and its relevance for theta-related neural mechanisms during cognitive control is still undetermined. Yet, theoretical considerations suggest that there may be a connection. To examine the link between resting state theta activity and conflict-related theta activity, we combined temporal EEG signal decomposition methods with time-frequency decomposition and beamforming methods in N = 86 healthy participants. Results indicate that resting state theta activity is closely associated with the strength of conflict-related neural activity at the level of ERPs and total theta power (consisting of phase-locked and nonphaselocked aspects of theta activity). The data reveal that resting state theta activity is related to a specific aspect of conflict-related theta activity, mainly in superior frontal regions and in the supplemental motor area (SMA, BA6) in particular. The signal decomposition showed that only stimulus-related, but not motor-response-related coding levels in the EEG signal and the event-related total theta activity were associated with resting theta activity. This specificity of effects may explain why the association between resting state theta activity and overt conflict monitoring performance may not be as strong as often assumed. The results suggest that resting state theta activity is particularly important to consider for input integration processes during cognitive control.
Efficient response selection is essential to flexible, goal-directed behavior. Prominent theoretical frameworks such as the “Theory of Event Coding” and “Binding and Retrieval in Action Control” have provided insights regarding the dynamics of perception–action integration processes. According to Theory of Event Coding and Binding and Retrieval in Action Control, encoded representations of stimulus–response bindings influence later retrieval processes of these bindings. However, this concept still lacks conclusive empirical evidence. In the current study, we applied representational decoding to EEG data. On the behavioral level, the findings replicated binding effects that have been established in previous studies: The task performance was impaired when an event file had to be reconfigured. The EEG-decoding results showed that retrieval processes of stimulus–response bindings could be decoded using the representational content developed after the initial establishment of these stimulus–response bindings. We showed that stimulus-related properties became immediately reactivated when re-encountering the respective stimulus–response association. These reactivations were temporally stable. In contrast, representations of stimulus–response mappings revealed a transient pattern of activity and could not successfully be decoded directly after stimulus–response binding. Information detailing the bindings between stimuli and responses were also retrieved, but only after having been loaded into a memory system. The current study supports the notion that stimulus–response integration and memory processes are intertwined at multiple levels.
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