Influence of impulsiveness on emotional modulation of response inhibition: An ERP study

To examine how impulsiveness influences the emotional modulation of behavioral and neural correlates of response inhibition.

Twenty-nine healthy individuals scoring high (HI, N=16) or low (LI, N=13) on motor impulsiveness performed an emotional Go/Nogo task, including the presentation of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures. Behavioral [reaction times (RTs), accuracy to Go and Nogo trials] and neural (Nogo-N2 and Nogo-P3) correlates of response inhibition were compared between HI and LI groups.

Larger Nogo-P3 was found for emotional than neutral stimuli in HI relative to LI group. Faster RTs to Go stimuli and lower accuracy to Nogo stimuli were correlated with larger Nogo-P3 in HI, but not LI, group. No significant interactions between emotion content and impulsiveness for Nogo-N2 and behavioral measures were noted.

Impulsiveness influences the emotional modulation of response inhibition by potentiating the response tendencies evoked by the emotional stimuli. Accordingly, high impulsive individuals may need an increased and/or more effortful response inhibition in order to counteract the prepotent tendency to respond elicited by the combination of high trait impulsiveness and high emotional arousal.

The present study suggests the importance to examine how pathological impulsiveness may interact with emotional arousal in modulating response inhibition.