Sensorimotor-independent prefrontal activity during response inhibition

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Human Brain Research

Background:

• A network including the ventral inferior frontal gyrus/anterior insula (vIFG/AI), presupplementary motor area (pre-SMA), and basal ganglia is linked to inhibiting impulsive responses.
• Previous research has not systematically investigated if this network's role in response inhibition varies across different sensory and motor contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically investigate the role of the vIFG/AI, pre-SMA, and basal ganglia in response inhibition across diverse sensorimotor contexts.
• To determine if brain activation during response inhibition is consistent regardless of the sensory modality of the stop signal or the motor response modality.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed using the stop-signal task.
• The experiment manipulated the sensory modality of the stop signal (visual vs. auditory) and the motor response modality (hand vs. eye).

Main Results:

• Common activation in the vIFG/AI, pre-SMA, and right middle frontal gyrus was observed during response inhibition across all tested sensorimotor conditions.
• Striatal areas showed no consistent activation for response inhibition across conditions.
• Distinct activation patterns within these frontal regions were noted for successful versus unsuccessful response inhibition.

Conclusions:

• The findings provide evidence for a common role of specific frontal brain areas (vIFG/AI, pre-SMA, right middle frontal gyrus) in response inhibition, independent of sensorimotor context.
• The vIFG/AI may be involved in initiating the stopping process, while the pre-SMA might regulate other brain regions involved in response inhibition.