Preventing (impulsive) errors: Electrophysiological evidence for online inhibitory control over incorrect responses

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Motor Control

Background:

• Selective action inhibition is crucial for navigating complex environments with multiple choices.
• Understanding the neural basis and modulation of inhibitory control is essential for explaining adaptive behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the origin and dynamics of incorrect response inhibition.
• To explore how task demands modulate inhibitory control during action selection.

Main Methods:

• Electroencephalography (EEG) was employed in a conflict task.
• Varying the probability of compatible and incompatible trials modulated response prepotency and error risk.

Main Results:

• Correct response activation and execution remained unaffected by trial compatibility or probability.
• Incorrect response inhibition, observed in the primary motor cortex, intensified on incompatible trials, especially when compatible trials were more frequent.
• Prefrontal activities (medial and lateral) were detected prior to response execution.

Conclusions:

• Inhibitory control strength is dynamically modulated during action execution based on task demands.
• Motor cortex plays a key role in implementing response inhibition.
• Prefrontal regions may contribute to the observed inhibitory patterns.