Partial response electromyography as a marker of action stopping

Abstract

Response inhibition is among the core constructs of cognitive control. It is notoriously difficult to quantify from overt behavior, since the outcome of successful inhibition is the lack of a behavioral response. Currently, the most common measure of action stopping, and by proxy response inhibition, is the model-based stop signal reaction time (SSRT) derived from the stop signal task. Recently, partial response electromyography (prEMG) has been introduced as a complementary physiological measure to capture individual stopping latencies. PrEMG refers to muscle activity initiated by the go signal that plummets after the stop signal before its accumulation to a full response. Whereas neither the SSRT nor the prEMG is an unambiguous marker for neural processes underlying response inhibition, our analysis indicates that the prEMG peak latency is better suited to investigate brain mechanisms of action stopping. This study is a methodological resource with a comprehensive overview of the psychometric properties of the prEMG in a stop signal task, and further provides practical tips for data collection and analysis.

Proactive interhemispheric disinhibition supports response preparation during selective stopping

“…The shorter SSDs and cancel times indicate that stopping was faster during informative partial-stop trials. Interestingly, the cancel time in the reactive (uninformative) context was ∼100 ms longer than reported during unimanual stopping (Jana et al, 2020; Raud et al, 2022). Although nonselective stopping was not explicitly assessed, the cancel times in the present study provide evidence of slower stopping in selective compared to nonselective stopping contexts (Smittenaar et al, 2013; c.f., Raud & Huster, 2017).…”

“…EMG data were pre-processed as per Raud et al (2022). Data epochs were bandpass filtered (20 – 250 Hz) using a second-order Butterworth filter and then resampled to 500 Hz.…”

“…Responses were coded as errors and removed from further analyses if RTs were more than 400 ms from the target (average 0.27% of trials). Relative RT (RTrel) was calculated by subtracting the target time from the mean response time for each hand and EMG data EMG data were pre-processed as per Raud et al (2022). Data epochs were bandpass filtered (20 -250 Hz) using a second-order Butterworth filter and then resampled to 500 Hz.…”

“…Cancel time was calculated by subtracting SSD from EMG burst offset in the stop-hand trial-by-trial (Jana et al, 2020). In this case, smaller cancel time values reflect faster stopping or faster cessation of going processes relative to stop signal onset (Raud et al, 2022). Δburst-onset was calculated by subtracting the EMG burst onset of the stop-hand from the respond-hand.…”

“…Cancel times during successful partial-stop trials were also shorter with greater stopping certainty. Cancel times were calculated on a trial-by-trial basis and reflect the time taken to inhibit or disengage excitatory processes in the stop-hand (Raud et al, 2022). The shorter SSDs and cancel times indicate that stopping was faster during informative partial-stop trials.…”