Domain-general Stroop Performance and Hemispheric Asymmetries: A Resting-state EEG Study.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Interference resistance, the ability to suppress irrelevant information, is a key prefrontal cortex (pFC) function crucial for goal-directed behavior.
• Open questions in executive functions research include the role of lateralization versus domain-specific specialization and the causes of individual differences.
• Understanding the neural underpinnings of cognitive control variability is essential for advancing cognitive neuroscience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if hemispheric asymmetry in resting-state electrophysiological brain dynamics correlates with individual differences in domain-general interference resistance.
• To explore the potential role of left pFC hemispheric specialization in domain-independent cognitive control processes.

Main Methods:

• Recorded resting-state electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in participants.
• Analyzed spectral power of estimated cortical source activity to compute right-left hemispheric asymmetry scores for the β/α power ratio.
• Assessed domain-general interference resistance using verbal and spatial Stroop tasks.

Main Results:

• Found significant correlations between left-lateralized resting-state activity in specific pFC regions (superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal junction) and enhanced interference resistance.
• Demonstrated that stronger left-lateralized activity at rest was associated with a greater ability to inhibit irrelevant information across both verbal and spatial domains.
• Intersection analyses confirmed robust associations between neurophysiological measures and cognitive performance.

Conclusions:

• Neurophysiological differences, specifically left-lateralized resting-state brain dynamics in the pFC, significantly explain interindividual differences in executive functioning.
• Results support the hypothesis of left pFC hemispheric specialization for domain-independent cognitive control processes that mediate performance on tasks like the Stroop.
• This study provides evidence for the neural basis of individual variability in cognitive control abilities.