Roles of the pre-SMA and rIFG in conditional stopping revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation

Authors:

Lee HW; Lu MS; Chen CY; Muggleton NG; Hsu TY; Juan CH . Institution Lee,Hon Wah. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National C entral University, Taoyuan City 320, Taiwan. Lu,Ming-Shan. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National C entral University, Taoyuan City 320, Taiwan. Chen,Chiao-Yun. Department and Graduate Institute of Criminology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi County 621, Taiwan. Muggleton,Neil G. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Nati onal Central University, Taoyuan City 320, Taiwan; Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London, UK. Hsu,Tzu-Yu. Brain and Consciousness Research Center, Taipei Medical University-Shuang-Ho Hospital, New Taipei City 235, Taiwan. Juan,Chi-Hung. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Nation al Central University, Taoyuan City 320, Taiwan; Brain Research Center, N ational Central University, Taoyuan City 320, Taiwan. Electronic address: chijuan@cc.ncu.edu.tw .

Title:

Roles of the pre-SMA and rIFG in conditional stopping reveal ed by transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Source:

Behavioural Brain Research. 296:459-67, 2016 Jan 1.

Abstract:

Although both the presupplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and t he right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) have been demonstrated to be cr itical for response inhibition, there is still considerable disagreement ov er the roles they play in the process. In the present study, we inv estigated the causal relations of the pre-SMA and the rIFG in a conditiona l stop-signal task by applying offline theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation. The task introduced a continue condition, which requires t he same motor response as in a go trial but captures attention as in a sto p trial. We found great individual differences in the amount of slowi ng on continue trials. Temporary suppression of pre-SMA activity prolong ed the continue RT in participants who slowed little in response to contin ue trials, whereas disruption of the rIFG did not lead to significan t changes in performance irrespective of the degree of slowing.

Our results contribute to the understanding of the role of the pre-SMA by providing causal evidence that it is involved in response slowing on continue trials during conditional stopping, and it is likely that its efficiency in updating motor planning and reinitiating an inhibited response was as sociated with the amount of slowing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication Type:

Journal Article. Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t.