Decoupling countermands nonselective response inhibition during selective stopping

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Human Motor Control

Background:

• Response inhibition is crucial for goal-directed actions in changing environments.
• Selective stopping, cancelling only part of a multieffector response, is complex and can lead to interference effects on unstopped components.
• Functional coupling between effectors may contribute to nonselective inhibition during selective stopping.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate selective stopping of coupled versus decoupled bimanual responses.
• To examine the neural mechanisms underlying selective stopping using electroencephalography (EEG).
• To determine if decoupling facilitates selective stopping and reduces interference.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed synchronous (coupled) and asynchronous (decoupled) bimanual responses in a stop-signal paradigm.
• EEG recorded mu (µ) and beta (β) rhythms during response preparation and stopping.
• Behavioral measures of response interference and synchrony were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Asynchronous responses were behaviorally decoupled, linked to lateralized sensorimotor µ- and β-desynchronization.
• Selective stopping induced a stopping-interference effect, with nonselective increases in prefrontal and sensorimotor β activity.
• Stopping-interference was reduced for decoupled (asynchronous) responses, correlating negatively with the degree of decoupling.

Conclusions:

• Decoupling of bimanual responses facilitates selective stopping by mitigating interference.
• Neural signatures, including lateralized sensorimotor rhythms, support more selective stopping of decoupled responses.
• Understanding effector coupling and decoupling is important for cognitive control and response inhibition research.