Mussini Elena, Berchicci Marika, Bianco Valentina, Perri Rinaldo Livio, Quinzi Federico, Di Russo Francesco
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Rome, Italy.
Neuroscience. 2020 Nov 21;449:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.09.042. Epub 2020 Oct 1.
It is well established that task complexity can affect both performance and brain processing. Event-related potentials (ERPs) studies have shown modulation of the well-known N2 and P3 components. However, limited information is available on the recently described frontal components associated with processing within the anterior insular cortex. This work aims to shed light on the effect of task complexity on the insular ERP components associated with perceptual (pN1) and sensory-motor awareness (pP1), as well as with stimulus-response mapping (the pP2). Moreover, this comparison of tasks with different complexity was expected to provide a new point of view on the debate on inhibitory or conflict monitoring role of the N2 component. Thirty-two participants were assigned to two groups: one performed an easy response task (with only a target and a non-target stimulus), the other one performed a complex response task (with two target and two non-target stimuli). The task comparison revealed enhanced pP1 and pP2 components but a reduced N2 component in the complex paradigm. These results suggest that task complexity may entail greater processing strength in the anterior insula functions associated with endogenous perceptual processing. Also, findings on the N2 activity provide evidence against both the inhibitory and conflict interpretation of this component, as the N2 amplitude was reduced in the complex task.
任务复杂性会影响表现和大脑处理过程，这一点已得到充分证实。事件相关电位（ERP）研究显示，著名的N2和P3成分会受到调制。然而，关于最近描述的与前岛叶皮质内处理相关的额叶成分的信息有限。这项研究旨在阐明任务复杂性对与感知（pN1）和感觉运动意识（pP1）以及刺激-反应映射（pP2）相关的岛叶ERP成分的影响。此外，通过比较不同复杂性的任务，有望为关于N2成分的抑制或冲突监测作用的争论提供新的视角。32名参与者被分为两组：一组执行简单反应任务（只有一个目标刺激和一个非目标刺激），另一组执行复杂反应任务（有两个目标刺激和两个非目标刺激）。任务比较显示，在复杂范式中，pP1和pP2成分增强，但N2成分减弱。这些结果表明，任务复杂性可能需要与内源性感知处理相关的前岛叶功能具有更强的处理能力。此外，关于N2活动的研究结果为反对该成分的抑制和冲突解释提供了证据，因为在复杂任务中N2波幅降低。
