Xing Jintao, Pourtois Gilles, Yang Qian
Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China; Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Cognitive & Affective Psychophysiology Laboratory, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Biol Psychol. 2025 Jul;199:109059. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109059. Epub 2025 May 28.
Cognitive control is a fundamental ability that enables to detect and resolve conflict. However, this ability is not encapsulated but liable to learning and motivational factors. Among them, previous studies have shown that the contingency created between conflict and performance by means of feedback, as well as its actual motivational value, influenced the behavioral manifestations of cognitive control. In this EEG study, we sought to shed light on the brain mechanisms underlying this modulation. To this end, fifty-eight participants performed the confound-minimized Stroop task wherein either congruent (i.e., no-conflict) or incongruent trials (i.e., conflict) were selectively reinforced by a performance feedback at the block level. Moreover, this feedback was either negative or neutral. At the behavioral results, we replicated previous results showing that conflict adaptation slightly improved when congruent trials were reinforced, while the reinforcement of incongruent trials led to a reduction of the congruency effect instead. Interestingly, at the EEG level, we found that this dissociation was captured by different event-related potentials (ERPs, as well as frontal alpha), but not mid-frontal theta (MFT), which was increased by conflict and performance feedback throughout. When incongruent trials were reinforced by the feedback, mostly the stimulus-locked N450 and the preceding occipital P1 component changed. In comparison, when congruent trials were selectively reinforced, the feedback-locked P3 component was altered. These findings suggest that depending on the specific contingency created between conflict and performance feedback, either stimulus or feedback-locked brain processes guide the implementation of cognitive control.
认知控制是一种基本能力，能够检测并解决冲突。然而，这种能力并非独立存在，而是容易受到学习和动机因素的影响。其中，先前的研究表明，通过反馈在冲突与表现之间建立的偶然性，以及其实际的动机价值，会影响认知控制的行为表现。在这项脑电图研究中，我们试图阐明这种调节背后的脑机制。为此，58名参与者进行了将混淆最小化的斯特鲁普任务，其中在组块水平上，通过表现反馈对一致（即无冲突）或不一致试验（即冲突）进行选择性强化。此外，这种反馈要么是负面的，要么是中性的。在行为结果方面，我们重复了先前的结果，即当一致试验得到强化时冲突适应略有改善，而不一致试验的强化反而导致一致性效应降低。有趣的是，在脑电图水平上，我们发现这种分离是由不同的事件相关电位（ERP，以及额叶阿尔法波）捕捉到的，而不是额中theta波（MFT），MFT在整个过程中因冲突和表现反馈而增加。当反馈强化不一致试验时，主要是刺激锁定的N450和之前的枕叶P1成分发生了变化。相比之下，当一致试验被选择性强化时，反馈锁定的P3成分发生了改变。这些发现表明，根据冲突与表现反馈之间建立的特定偶然性，要么是刺激锁定的脑过程，要么是反馈锁定的脑过程指导认知控制的实施。
