Functional anatomy of GO/NO-GO discrimination and response selection — a PET study in man

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the functional fields activated in relation to the NO-GO decision. Nine healthy subjects participated in the study which consisted of two test positron emission tomography (PET) scans (GO/NO-GO task and response selection task) and one control scan. In the response selection task, subjects were asked to flex their thumb of the right hand when a light emitting diode (LED) placed 60 cm from their eyes turned on red and to flex their index finger of the right hand when LED turned on green. In the GO/NO-GO task, subjects were asked to flex their thumb when the LED turned on red, however, they were asked not to move their fingers when LED turned on green. In the control state, they were asked simply to look at the LED without any movement of finger during the course of the scan. The mean regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) change images for each task minus control and task minus task were calculated and fields of significant rCBF changes were identified. Several fields in the prefrontal cortex of the right hemisphere were specifically activated in relation to the GO/NO-GO task. The results indicate that the prefrontal cortex of the right hemisphere may be a key structure to make a decision not to move.

The cerebral correlates of set-shifting: an fMRI study of the trail making test

“…Behaviorally, all seem to share a common ground of cognitive interference, response conflict, and cognitive set shifting. Moreover, functional neuroimaging studies have shown that the areas activated by both the Stroop and the go-no go tasks overlap to a great extent, most notably in the middle dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortex as well as in the posterior parietal cortex 15,16 . This pattern is remarkably similar to the one we found for the TMT.…”

The Effect of Citalopram Pretreatment on Neuronal Responses to Neuropsychological Tasks in Normal Volunteers: An fMRI Study

“…In a recent study, we have shown that patients with the diagnosis of borderline and antisocial personality disorder (which is associated with lack of impulse control) activate more widespread prefrontal and temporal cortical areas than healthy controls in the Go/No-go task (Völlm et al, 2004), a neuropsychological task requiring behavioral inhibition (Casey et al, 1997). The Go/No-go task has been widely used as a cognitive activation paradigm with normal volunteers, and it produces consistent prefrontal activation (Horn et al, 2003;Völlm et al, 2004;Rubia et al, 2003;Anderson et al, 2002;Menon et al, 2001;Liddle et al, 2001;Kawashima et al, 1996). The lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), particularly on the right, is a common area activated by No-go compared with Go conditions in these studies and appears to be specifically involved in the inhibition of responses (Aron et al, 2003;Rubia et al, 2003;Menon et al, 2001;Liddle et al, 2001).…”

Sensitivity of prefrontal cortex to changes in target probability: A functional MRI study

“…This association has been argued most extensively in the context of the P300, an event-related potential (ERP) elicited by infrequent events. Neuroimaging studies [Grasby et al, 1993;Jonides et al, 1993;Cohen et al, 1994;McCarthy et al, 1994;Casey et al, 1995;Smith et al, 1995;Kawashima et al, 1996;Casey et al, 1997] together with physiological studies in monkeys [Niki, 1974;Mishkin and Manning, 1978;Goldman-Rakic, 1987;Fuster, 1988;Yajeya and Fuster, 1988] have largely focused on the involvement of frontal regions in higher cognitive processes such as working memory and inhibitory control. These studies provide better spatial resolution than do electrophysiology studies and suggest that different regions within prefrontal cortex are associated with different types of processing.…”

“…These studies provide better spatial resolution than do electrophysiology studies and suggest that different regions within prefrontal cortex are associated with different types of processing. For example, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex has been implicated in working memory [Goldman-Rakic, 1987;Fuster, 1988;Cohen et al, 1994;McCarthy et al, 1994;Smith et al, 1995], while more ventral regions of prefrontal cortex have been implicated in the suppression of prepotent responses as in the go/no-go task [Kawashima et al, 1996;Casey et al, 1997;Konishi et al, 1999]. Few imaging studies have examined the effects of manipulating target probability on these presumed prefrontal functions.…”

“…Accordingly, we hypothesized that this type of interference (between responses) would result in increased activity in the ventral prefrontal cortex. This prediction was based in part on the presumed role of ventral prefrontal cortex in suppression of prepotent responses as in the go/no-go task [Kawashima et al, 1996;Casey et al, 1997;Konishi et al, 1999].…”