Business School, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China; Academy of Neuroeconomics and Neuromanagement, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
Prudence College, Zhejiang Business Technology Institute, Ningbo, China.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2021 Apr;162:121-129. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.01.020. Epub 2021 Jan 30.
Externally and intentionally initiated inhibitory processes, which are fundamental for human action control, can be unconsciously launched. However, the neural oscillatory mechanisms underlying unconscious priming of externally and intentionally generated inhibition remain unclear. This study aimed to explore this issue by extracting oscillatory power dynamics from electroencephalographic data with participants performing an unconscious version of the Go/No-Go/Choose task involving subliminally presented primes. The participants presented prolonged response times upon being instructed or intentionally deciding to commit a "Go" response following a No-Go prime compared with those following a Go prime. This indicates that unconscious inhibitory processes can be externally and intentionally initiated. Time-frequency analysis indicated increased theta band oscillatory power on the forced Go response following a No-Go prime compared with that following a Go prime. Contrastingly, there was pronounced alpha/low-beta band oscillatory power on the free-choice Go response following a No-Go prime compared with that following a Go prime. Moreover, there was a positive correlation of theta and alpha/low-beta band oscillations with human behavior performance related to the two distinct unconscious inhibitory processes. Our findings delineate dissociable neural oscillatory mechanisms underlying the unconscious priming of externally and intentionally initiated inhibition. Moreover, they might provide complementary neural oscillatory evidence supporting the discrepancy between instructed and voluntary human action control.
外部和有意启动的抑制过程是人类行动控制的基础，可以无意识地启动。然而，无意识启动外部和有意产生抑制的神经振荡机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在通过从参与者执行涉及潜意识呈现启动子的无意识 Go/No-Go/Choose 任务的脑电图数据中提取振荡功率动力学来探讨这个问题。与跟随 Go 启动子时相比，当参与者被指示或有意决定在 No-Go 启动后做出“Go”反应时，他们的反应时间延长。这表明无意识的抑制过程可以由外部和有意启动。时频分析表明，与跟随 Go 启动子时相比，在跟随 No-Go 启动子时，强制 Go 反应的 theta 波段振荡功率增加。相比之下，在自由选择 Go 反应时，跟随 No-Go 启动子时的 alpha/低 beta 波段振荡功率明显较高。此外，theta 和 alpha/低 beta 波段振荡与与两种不同的无意识抑制过程相关的人类行为表现呈正相关。我们的发现描绘了无意识启动外部和有意产生抑制的分离神经振荡机制。此外，它们可能提供了补充的神经振荡证据，支持指令和自愿人类行动控制之间的差异。
