Serial Processing of Exogenous and Endogenous Information Conflicts in Human Brain / 中国康复理论与实践

ABSTRACT

@# Objective To investigate the cortical activities for processing exogenous stimulus-related information conflict and endogenous mental-related information conflict.Methods Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while 15 healthy subjects performed a digit matching task. Each trial consisted of two sequentially presented digits (S1～S2), where S2 was either the same as S1 (S-) or different from S1 (S+) in digital value. Subjects pressed a button of a push-pad when S2 was the same as S1 and pressed the other button when S2 was different from S1 in the first session. Furtherly, they were required to calculate the difference between S1 and S2, and compare their calculation result with digit '3' in the second session. They pressed a button when the calculation result was equal to '3' (M-) and pressed the other button when it was not (M+). Three trial types were included same numbers but their difference was not equal to '3' (S-M+), different numbers but their difference was '3' (S+M-) and different numbers but their difference was not '3' (S+M+). Results Following S2 onset, a component N270 was broadly elicited at all the scalps by S+, S+M- and S-M+. N270 and N400 were elicited in series by S+M+. The maximal amplitude of N270 was at the posterior scalp while the maximal amplitude of the N400 was at the central areas. Conclusion The different spatio-temporal distributions of the two negative potentials suggested that exogenous and endogenous information conflicts were serially processed in the human brain by the conflict processing system of multiple neural substrates.