N.P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, Academika Pavlova Street 9, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 16;12(1):10137. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14221-x.
Response inhibition is typically considered a brain mechanism selectively triggered by particular "inhibitory" stimuli or events. Based on recent research, an alternative non-selective mechanism was proposed by several authors. Presumably, the inhibitory brain activity may be triggered not only by the presentation of "inhibitory" stimuli but also by any imperative stimuli, including Go stimuli, when the context is uncertain. Earlier support for this notion was mainly based on the absence of a significant difference between neural activity evoked by equiprobable Go and NoGo stimuli. Equiprobable Go/NoGo design with a simple response time task limits potential confounds between response inhibition and accompanying cognitive processes while not preventing prepotent automaticity. However, previous neuroimaging studies used classical null hypothesis significance testing, making it impossible to accept the null hypothesis. Therefore, the current research aimed to provide evidence for the practical equivalence of neuronal activity in the Go and NoGo trials using Bayesian analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Thirty-four healthy participants performed a cued Go/NoGo task with an equiprobable presentation of Go and NoGo stimuli. To independently localize brain areas associated with response inhibition in similar experimental conditions, we performed a meta-analysis of fMRI studies using equal-probability Go/NoGo tasks. As a result, we observed overlap between response inhibition areas and areas that demonstrate the practical equivalence of neuronal activity located in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, premotor cortex, and left inferior frontal gyrus. Thus, obtained results favour the existence of non-selective response inhibition, which can act in settings of contextual uncertainty induced by the equal probability of Go and NoGo stimuli.
反应抑制通常被认为是一种由特定的“抑制性”刺激或事件选择性触发的大脑机制。基于最近的研究,几位作者提出了一种替代的非选择性机制。据推测,抑制性脑活动不仅可能由“抑制性”刺激的呈现触发,还可能由任何强制性刺激触发,包括当上下文不确定时的 Go 刺激。这一观点的早期支持主要基于等概率 Go 和 NoGo 刺激诱发的神经活动之间没有显著差异。具有简单反应时间任务的等概率 Go/NoGo 设计限制了反应抑制和伴随认知过程之间的潜在混淆,同时不防止优势自动性。然而,以前的神经影像学研究使用了经典的零假设显著性检验,使得无法接受零假设。因此,目前的研究旨在使用功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 数据的贝叶斯分析为 Go 和 NoGo 试验中神经元活动的实际等效性提供证据。34 名健康参与者进行了带有等概率 Go 和 NoGo 刺激呈现的提示 Go/NoGo 任务。为了在类似的实验条件下独立定位与反应抑制相关的大脑区域,我们对使用等概率 Go/NoGo 任务的 fMRI 研究进行了荟萃分析。结果,我们观察到反应抑制区域与神经元活动实际等效区域之间存在重叠,这些区域位于右侧背外侧前额叶皮层、顶叶皮层、运动前皮层和左侧下额回。因此,获得的结果支持存在非选择性的反应抑制,这种抑制可以在由 Go 和 NoGo 刺激的等概率引起的上下文不确定的情况下发挥作用。