Title
Response suppression by automatic retrieval of stimulus-stop association: evidence from transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Abstract
Behavioral studies show that subjects respond more slowly to stimuli to which they previously stopped. This response slowing could be explained by “automatic inhibition” (i.e., the reinstantiation of motor suppression when a stimulus retrieves a stop association). Here we tested this using TMS. In Experiment 1, participants were trained to go or no-go to stimuli. Then, in a test phase, we compared the corticospinal excitability for go stimuli that were previously associated with stopping (no-go_then_go) with go stimuli that were previously associated with going (go_then_go). Corticospinal excitability was reduced for no-go_then_go compared with go_then_go stimuli at a mere 100 msec poststimulus. Although these results fit with automatic inhibition, there was, surprisingly, no suppression for no-go_then_no-go stimuli, although this should occur. We speculated that automatic inhibition lies within a continuum between effortful top–down response inhibition and no inhibition at all. When the need for executive control and active response suppression disappears, so does the manifestation of automatic inhibition. Therefore, it should emerge during go/no-go learning and disappear as performance asymptotes. Consistent with this idea, in Experiment 2, we demonstrated reduced corticospinal excitability for no-go versus go trials most prominently in the midphase of training but it wears off as performance asymptotes. We thus provide neurophysiological evidence for an inhibition mechanism that is automatically reinstantiated when a stimulus retrieves a learned stopping episode, but only in an executive context in which active suppression is required. This demonstrates that automatic and top–down inhibition jointly contribute to goal-directed behavior.
Year
DOI
Venue
2012
10.1162/jocn_a_00247
Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of
Keywords
Field
DocType
effortful top-down response inhibition,transcranial magnetic stimulation,performance asymptote,automatic inhibition,active suppression,inhibition mechanism,stimulus-stop association,top-down inhibition,motor suppression,no-go learning,automatic retrieval,corticospinal excitability,active response suppression,analysis of variance,reaction time,young adult,response inhibition,repression psychology,top down,brain mapping
Brain mapping,Neuroscience,Transcranial magnetic stimulation,Neurophysiology,Cognitive psychology,Electromyography,Psychology,Stimulus (physiology),Go/no go,Inferior frontal gyrus
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
24
9
1530-8898
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
7
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Yu-Chin Chiu1415.51
Adam R. Aron214414.17
Frederick Verbruggen3243.45