Demands on response inhibition processes determine modulations of theta band activity in superior frontal areas and correlations with pupillometry – Implications for the norepinephrine system during inhibitory control

Several lines of evidence suggest that there is a close interrelation between the degree of noise in neural circuits and the activity of the norepinephrine (NE) system, yet the precise nexus between these aspects is far from being understood during human information processing and cognitive control in particular. We examine this nexus during response inhibition in n = 47 healthy participants. Using high-density EEG recordings, we estimate neural noise by calculating “1/ f noise” of those data and integrate these EEG parameters with pupil diameter data as an established indirect index of NE system activity. We show that neural noise is reduced when cognitive control processes to inhibit a prepotent/automated response are exerted. These neural noise variations were confined to the theta frequency band, which has also been shown to play a central role during response inhibition and cognitive control. There were strong positive correlations between the 1 /f neural noise parameter and the pupil diameter data within the first 250 ms after the Nogo stimulus presentation at centro-parietal electrode sites. No such correlations were evident during automated responding on Go trials. Source localization analyses using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography show that inferior parietal areas are activated in this time period in Nogo trials. The data suggest an interrelation of NE system activity and neural noise within early stages of information processing associated with inferior parietal areas when cognitive control processes are required. The data provide the first direct evidence for the nexus between NE system activity and the modulation of neural noise during inhibitory control in humans. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study showing that there is a nexus between norepinephrine system activity and the modulation of neural noise or scale-free neural activity during inhibitory control in humans. It does so by integrating pupil diameter data with analysis of EEG neural noise.

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Right inferior frontal gyrus implements motor inhibitory control via beta-band oscillations in humans

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.61679 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Schaum ◽

Edoardo Pinzuti ◽

Alexandra Sebastian ◽

Klaus Lieb ◽

Pascal Fries ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Inhibitory Control ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Supplementary Motor Area ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Beta Band ◽

Changing Environments ◽

Band Power ◽

The Right ◽

Band Activity

Motor inhibitory control implemented as response inhibition is an essential cognitive function required to dynamically adapt to rapidly changing environments. Despite over a decade of research on the neural mechanisms of response inhibition, it remains unclear, how exactly response inhibition is initiated and implemented. Using a multimodal MEG/fMRI approach in 59 subjects, our results reliably reveal that response inhibition is initiated by the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) as a form of attention-independent top-down control that involves the modulation of beta-band activity. Furthermore, stopping performance was predicted by beta-band power, and beta-band connectivity was directed from rIFG to pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), indicating rIFG’s dominance over pre-SMA. Thus, these results strongly support the hypothesis that rIFG initiates stopping, implemented by beta-band oscillations with potential to open up new ways of spatially localized oscillation-based interventions.

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The interplay of resting and inhibitory control‐related theta‐band activity depends on age

Human Brain Mapping ◽

10.1002/hbm.25469 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte Pscherer ◽

Annet Bluschke ◽

Moritz Mückschel ◽

Christian Beste

Keyword(s):

Inhibitory Control ◽

Theta Band ◽

Band Activity

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Unconscious learning and automatic inhibition are accompanied by frontal theta and sensorimotor interactions

10.1101/777961 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Silvia L. Isabella ◽

J. Allan Cheyne ◽

Douglas Cheyne

Keyword(s):

Response Inhibition ◽

Cognitive Activity ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Theta Activity ◽

Pattern Learning ◽

Stimulus Probability ◽

Theta Band ◽

Response Preparation ◽

Frontal Activity ◽

Band Activity

AbstractCognitive control of behavior is often accompanied by theta-band activity in the frontal cortex, and is crucial for overriding habits and producing desired actions. However, the functional role of theta activity in controlled behavior remains to be determined. Here, we used a behavioral task (Isabella et al., 2019) that covertly manipulated the ability to inhibit (and switch) motor responses using a repeating pattern of stimuli that reduced reaction times (RT) to probable over unexpected stimuli, without participants’ awareness of the pattern. We combined this task with concurrent measures of brain activity and pupil diameter (as a measure of cognitive activity) of 16 healthy adults during response preparation and inhibition during changes in stimulus probability. Observed RT provided evidence of pattern learning and pupillometry revealed parametric changes in cognitive activity with stimulus probability. Critically, reliable pupillary effects (Hedge’s g = 1.38) in the absence of RT differences (g = 0.10) indicated that cognitive activity increased without overt changes in behavior (RT). Such increased cognitive activity was accompanied by parametric increases in frontal theta and sensorimotor gamma. In addition, correlation between pre-stimulus beta and pre-response gamma in the motor cortex and post-stimulus frontal theta activity suggest bidirectional interactions between motor and frontal areas. These interactions likely underlie recruitment of preparatory and inhibitory neural activity during rapid motor control. Furthermore, pupillary and frontal theta effects during learned switches demonstrate that increases in inhibitory control of behavior can occur automatically, without conscious awareness.Significance StatementGoal-directed control is crucial for overriding habits and producing desired actions, which can fail during errors and accidents, and may be impaired in addiction, attention-deficit disorders, or dementia. This type of control, including response inhibition, is typically accompanied by frontal theta-band activity. We examined the relationship between frontal theta and response inhibition during unconscious pattern learning. First, we found that frontal activity was sensitive to changes in control and correlated with reaction times. Second, insufficient motor preparation predicted greater frontal activity, reflecting a greater need for control, which in turn predicted greater response-related motor activity. These results link the frontal and motor cortices, providing possible mechanisms for controlled behavior while demonstrating that goal-directed control can proceed automatically and unconsciously.

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Effects of tDCS during inhibitory control training on performance and PTSD, aggression and anxiety symptoms: a randomized-controlled trial in a military sample

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291721000817 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Fenne M. Smits ◽

Elbert Geuze ◽

Dennis J. L. G. Schutter ◽

Jack van Honk ◽

Thomas E. Gladwin

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Clinical Sample ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Anodal Tdcs ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Impulsive Aggression ◽

The Right ◽

Inhibition Training

Abstract Background Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and impulsive aggression are linked to transdiagnostic neurocognitive deficits. This includes impaired inhibitory control over inappropriate responses. Prior studies showed that inhibitory control can be improved by modulating the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in combination with inhibitory control training. However, its clinical potential remains unclear. We therefore aimed to replicate a tDCS-enhanced inhibitory control training in a clinical sample and test whether this reduces stress-related mental health symptoms. Methods In a preregistered double-blind randomized-controlled trial, 100 active-duty military personnel and post-active veterans with PTSD, anxiety, or impulsive aggression symptoms underwent a 5-session intervention where a stop-signal response inhibition training was combined with anodal tDCS over the right IFG for 20 min at 1.25 mA. Inhibitory control was evaluated with the emotional go/no-go task and implicit association test. Stress-related symptoms were assessed by self-report at baseline, post-intervention, and after 3-months and 1-year follow-ups. Results Active relative to sham tDCS neither influenced performance during inhibitory control training nor on assessment tasks, and did also not significantly influence self-reported symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, impulsive aggression, or depression at post-assessment or follow-up. Conclusions Our results do not support the idea that anodal tDCS over the right IFG at 1.25 mA enhances response inhibition training in a clinical sample, or that this tDCS-training combination can reduce stress-related symptoms. Applying different tDCS parameters or combining tDCS with more challenging tasks might provide better conditions to modulate cognitive functioning and stress-related symptoms.

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Properties of lower level processing modulate the actions of the norepinephrine system during response inhibition

Biological Psychology ◽

10.1016/j.biopsycho.2020.107862 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 152 ◽

pp. 107862

Author(s):

Moritz Mückschel ◽

Tjalf Ziemssen ◽

Christian Beste

Keyword(s):

Response Inhibition ◽

Norepinephrine System

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Uncontrolled Eating in Healthy Women Has Limited Influence on Food Reward Sensitivity and Food-Related Inhibitory Control

10.31234/osf.io/an7se ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maud Grol ◽

Luis Cásedas ◽

Danna Oomen ◽

Desirée Spronk ◽

Elaine Fox

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Food Consumption ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Food Reward ◽

Reward Sensitivity ◽

Specific Response ◽

High Tendency ◽

Healthy Women ◽

Uncontrolled Eating

Uncontrolled eating—in the general population—is characterized by overeating, hedonic hunger and being drawn towards palatable foods. Theoretically, it is the result of a strong food reward signal in relation to a poor ability to exert inhibitory control. How food consumption influences inhibitory control and food reward sensitivity, and how this relates to the continued urge to eat, remains unclear though. We used fMRI (N=40) in order to investigate the neural mechanism underlying food reward sensitivity and food-specific response inhibition (go-nogo task), by comparing women reporting high versus low/average uncontrolled eating across two sessions: during an inter-meal hunger state and after consumption of a high-caloric snack. We found no effects of individual differences in uncontrolled eating, food consumption, nor their interaction on food reward sensitivity. Differences in uncontrolled eating and food consumption did interact in modulating activity in the left superior occipital gyrus during response inhibition of non-food stimuli, an area previously associated with successful nogo- vs. go-trials. Yet, behavioural performance on the go-nogo task was not modulated by uncontrolled eating nor food consumption. Women with a low/average tendency for uncontrolled eating may need more cognitive resources to support successful response inhibition of non-food stimuli during food ‘go’ blocks in an inter-meal hunger state, whereas women with a high tendency for uncontrolled eating showed this after food consumption. Considering current and previous findings, it seems that individual differences in uncontrolled eating in healthy women have only limited influence on food reward sensitivity and food-related inhibitory control, whereas differences in weight status (e.g., obesity) may have more impact.

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The neural correlates of inhibitory control in 10-month-old infants: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

10.31234/osf.io/r8m9b ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Abigail Fiske ◽

Carina de Klerk ◽

Katie Y. K. Lui ◽

Liam H Collins-Jones ◽

Alexandra Hendry ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Response Inhibition ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Older Children ◽

Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Inhibition Performance ◽

The Right

Inhibitory control, a core executive function, emerges in infancy and develops rapidly across childhood. Methodological limitations have meant that studies investigating the neural correlates underlying inhibitory control in infancy are rare. Employing functional near-infrared spectroscopy alongside a novel touchscreen task that measures response inhibition, this study aimed to uncover the neural underpinnings of inhibitory control in 10-month-old infants (N = 135). We found that when inhibition is required, the right prefrontal and parietal cortices were more activated than when there is no inhibitory demand. Further, activation in right prefrontal areas was associated with individual differences in response inhibition performance. This demonstrates that inhibitory control in infants as young as 10 months of age is supported by similar brain areas as in older children and adults. With this study we have lowered the age-boundary for localising the neural substrates of response inhibition to the first year of life.

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