On the relevance of EEG resting theta activity for the neurophysiological dynamics underlying motor inhibitory control

Abstract

The modulation of theta frequency activity plays a major role in inhibitory control processes. However, the relevance of resting theta band activity and of the ability to spontaneously modulate this resting theta activity for neural mechanisms underlying inhibitory control is elusive. Various theoretical conceptions suggest to take these aspects into consideration. In the current study, we examine whether the strength of resting theta band activity or the ability to modulate the resting state theta activity affects response inhibition. We combined EEG‐time frequency decomposition and beamforming in a conflict‐modulated Go/Nogo task. A sample of N = 66 healthy subjects was investigated. We show that the strength of resting state theta activity modulates the effects of conflicts during motor inhibitory control. Especially when resting theta activity was low, conflicts strongly affected response inhibition performance and total theta band activity during Nogo trials. These effects were associated with theta‐related activity differences in the superior (BA7) and inferior parietal cortex (BA40). The results were very specific for total theta band activity since evoked theta activity and measures of intertrial phase coherency (phase‐locking factor) were not affected. The data suggest that the strength of resting state theta activity modulates processing of a theta‐related alarm or surprise signal during inhibitory control. The ability to voluntarily modulate theta band activity did not affect conflict‐modulated inhibitory control. These findings have important implications for approaches aiming to optimize human cognitive control.

Resting theta activity is associated with specific coding levels in event‐related theta activity during conflict monitoring

“…Because such endogenous activity is also characteristic for resting EEG activity across different frequency bands (Hiltunen et al, 2014;Knyazev, 2013;Laufs, 2008), there may be a link between resting theta band activity and theta-based activity evident during conflict monitoring. Such a link between resting state and task-related theta activity has already been shown for motor response inhibition (Pscherer, Mückschel, Summerer, Bluschke, & Beste, 2019). A more general link between resting activity and cognitive control-related activity is suggested by studies that revealed similarities between resting neural dynamics and task-related activity from a perspective of the involved neural networks (Becker, Van de Ville, & Kleinschmidt, 2018;Tavor et al, 2016).…”

“…In the current study, we examined the strength of the association between resting theta band activity and conflict-related neurophysiological activity. In a previous study, we have already shown that resting theta activity is related to task-related theta activity during motor response inhibition (Pscherer et al, 2019). Unlike these previous data (Pscherer et al, 2019), we here focus on conflict monitoring (or interference control), which is different from motor inhibition processes, even though some inhibitory control aspect has also been discussed for the control of conflicting sensory information (Chmielewski, Mückschel, Roessner, & Beste, 2014;Klein, Petitjean, Olivier, & Duque, 2014;Ocklenburg, Güntürkün, & Beste, 2011;Stürmer, Siggelkow, Dengler, & Leuthold, 2000;Tandonnet, Garry, & Summers, 2011;Verleger, Kuniecki, Möller, Fritzmannova, & Siebner, 2009).…”

“…Therefore, the recruited sample for the current study included N = 93 healthy, right‐handed adults between 18 and 40 years of age. About 70% of this sample also participated in a previous study of our research group investigating resting theta activity with a different task (Pscherer et al, 2019). In the present sample, we defined two groups based on the median value of the participants' resting theta activity.…”

“…To assess the participants' resting theta activity, we used the same setup as in a previous study (please refer to Pscherer et al, 2019 for details). The subjects' brain electrical activity was continuously recorded at electrode Cz.…”

Acute Alcohol Effects on Response Inhibition Depend on Response Automatization, but not on GABA or Glutamate Levels in the ACC and Striatum

“…Like the ACC, this structure is well-known to be modulated by alcohol. Medial frontal theta oscillations originating in these mid-frontal brain regions have been shown to reflect cognitive control processes, including response inhibition [21,[89][90][91]. The SMA is considered to play a key role in stopping a response [29].…”