Behaviourally assessed negative urgency is uniquely associated with binge-eating frequency.

OBJECTIVE: Binge eating appears to be associated with impulsivity, especially in response to negative affect (i.e., negative urgency). However, negative urgency is typically assessed via self-report, which captures only some aspects of urgency and may be subject to bias. Few studies have examined impulsivity following experimental manipulations of affect in binge-eating samples. METHOD: In the present study, individuals who engage in regular binge eating completed a behavioural impulsivity (go/no-go) task with high- and low-calorie food stimuli, once following negative affect induction and once following neutral affect induction. RESULTS: Greater behavioural impulsivity to high-calorie food cues while in a negative (and not a neutral) affective state was associated with more frequent binge-eating behaviour. Further, this behavioural measure of negative urgency uniquely accounted for variance in binge-eating frequency when controlling for self-reported negative urgency, suggesting that behavioural measures may be a useful complement to self-report measures. DISCUSSION: These findings provide novel and compelling evidence for the relationship between negative urgency and binge eating, highlighting negative urgency as a potentially important target for intervention.

Influence of reinforcement learning on the inhibitory control of Internet gaming disorder.

Reward processing dysfunction and inhibition control deficiency have been observed in Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, it is still unclear whether the previous reinforcement learning depends on reward/punishment feedback influences on the cognitive inhibitory control of IGD. This study compared the differences between an IGD group and healthy people without game experiences in the probability selection task and the subsequent stop signal task by the method of behavioral experiments, in order to explore whether the reward learning ability is impaired in the IGD group. We also discuss the influence of previous reward learning on subsequent inhibition control. The results showed that (1) during the reward learning phase, the IGD group's accuracy was significantly lower than that of the control group; (2) compared with the control group, the IGD group's reaction times were longer in the transfer phase; (3) for no-go trials of the inhibitory control phase after reward learning, the accuracy of the reward-related stimulation in the IGD group was lower than that of punishment-related or neutral stimulation, but there was no significant difference among the three conditions in the control group. These findings indicated that the reinforcement learning ability of the IGD group was impaired, which further caused the abnormal response to reinforcement stimuli.

Additive effects of depression and obesity on neural correlates of inhibitory control.

BACKGROUND: Depression and obesity are associated with impaired inhibitory control. Behavioral evidence indicates an exacerbating additive effect when both conditions co-occur. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Moreover, systemic inflammation affects neurocognitive performance in both individuals with depression and obesity. Here, we investigate additive effects of depression and obesity on neural correlates of inhibitory control, and examine inflammation as a connecting pathway. METHODS: We assessed inhibitory control processing in 64 individuals with obesity and varying degrees of depressed mood by probing neural activation and connectivity during an fMRI Stroop task. Additionally, we explored associations of altered neural responses with individual differences in systemic inflammation. Data were collected as part of the BARICO (Bariatric surgery Rijnstate and Radboudumc neuroimaging and Cognition in Obesity) study. RESULTS: Concurrent depression and obesity were linked to increased functional connectivity between the supplementary motor area and precuneus and between the inferior occipital and inferior parietal gyrus. Exploratory analysis revealed that circulating inflammation markers, including plasma leptin, IL-6, IL-8, and CCL-3 correlated with the additive effect of depression and obesity on altered functional connectivity. LIMITATIONS: The observational design limits causal inferences. Future research employing longitudinal or intervention designs is required to validate these findings and elucidate causal pathways. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest increased neural crosstalk underlying impaired inhibitory control in individuals with concurrent obesity and depressed mood. Our results support a model of an additive detrimental effect of concurrent depression and obesity on neurocognitive functioning, with a possible role of inflammation.

Hypocretin-1 receptor antagonism improves inhibitory control during the Go/No-Go task in highly motivated, impulsive male mice.

RATIONALE: Motivation and inhibitory control are dominantly regulated by the dopaminergic (DA) and noradrenergic (NA) systems, respectively. Hypothalamic hypocretin (orexin) neurons provide afferent inputs to DA and NA nuclei and hypocretin-1 receptors (HcrtR1) are implicated in reward and addiction. However, the role of the HcrtR1 in inhibitory control is not well understood. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of HcrtR1 antagonism and motivational state in inhibitory control using the go/no-go task in mice. METHODS: n = 23 male C57Bl/6JArc mice were trained in a go/no-go task. Decision tree dendrogram analysis of training data identified more and less impulsive clusters of animals. A HcrtR1 antagonist (BI001, 12.5 mg/kg, per os) or vehicle were then administered 30 min before go/no-go testing, once daily for 5 days, under high (food-restricted) and low (free-feeding) motivational states in a latin-square crossover design. Compound exposure levels were assessed in a satellite group of animals. RESULTS: HcrtR1 antagonism increased go accuracy and decreased no-go accuracy in free-feeding animals overall, whereas it decreased go accuracy and increased no-go accuracy only in more impulsive, food restricted mice. HcrtR1 antagonism also showed differential effects in premature responding, which was increased in response to the antagonist in free-feeding, less impulsive animals, and decreased in food restricted, more impulsive animals. HcrtR1 receptor occupancy by BI001 was estimated at ~ 66% during the task. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that hypocretin signalling plays roles in goal-directed behaviour and inhibitory control in a motivational state-dependant manner. While likely not useful in all settings, HcrtR1 antagonism may be beneficial in improving inhibitory control in impulsive subpopulations.

Transactional Linkages Between Parenting Behaviors and Child Executive Functions and Self-Regulation from Early Childhood to Adolescence.

Research on the development of executive functions (EFs) and self-regulation (SR) has focused heavily on the early childhood years, when these abilities first emerge. Less is known in comparison about how these abilities develop through adolescence, and how contextual factors, such as parenting, influence their development in later years. Using longitudinal data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), we used random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM) to examine the bidirectional linkages between three parenting behaviors (i.e., autonomy support, supportive presence, hostility), child EFs (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control) and child SR outcomes, from early childhood to adolescence. Parenting in early childhood was significantly associated with change in child EFs from early to middle childhood, but not from middle childhood to adolescence. Specifically, greater autonomy support in early childhood was associated with stronger child working memory and inhibitory control in middle childhood; greater supportive presence in early childhood was associated with stronger child working memory in middle childhood; and higher rates of hostility in early childhood were associated with weaker child inhibitory skills in middle childhood. Reciprocal effects of child EF and SR on parenting were also observed. Specifically, stronger child inhibitory control in early childhood was associated with less hostility in middle childhood, and stronger child self-regulation in middle childhood was associated with greater supportive presence in adolescence. Accounting for lagged and stability effects, there was significant residual covariance between parenting behaviors and child SR in adolescence, suggesting that parenting continues to be associated with the development of SR skills through adolescence. Understanding reciprocal linkages between parenting and child EF/SR through adolescence is critical in developing targeted parenting interventions beyond early childhood to improve children's outcomes.

The Impact of Harsh Parental Discipline and Emotional Warmth on Adolescent Problem Behaviors.

Purpose: This study, grounded in Social Information Processing Theory, integrates emotional warmth and harsh discipline into a unified model to investigate their differential effects on adolescents' internalized and externalized problem behaviors, as well as to explore the potential divergences in the mediating role of inhibitory control. Patients and Methods: Four hundred and twenty-eight adolescents completed validated scales of Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (EMBU), Inhibitory Control and The Youth Self-Report (YSR), Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 and Mplus7.4 to examine the relationship between harsh parental discipline, emotional warmth, adolescent inhibitory control, and internalized and externalized problem behaviors and the mediating effects. Results: The present study revealed that (1) Harsh parental discipline negatively predicted both internalized and externalized problems in adolescents, while emotional warmth from fathers positively predicted internalized problem behaviors; (2) Inhibitory control acted as a mediator in the impact of harsh parental discipline on problem behaviors, while the mediating effect between paternal emotional warmth and internalization issues was not significant. Conclusion: The impact of emotional warmth and harsh discipline on adolescent internalized and externalized problems varied. In families practicing a mixed parenting style, harsh discipline had a more significant effect on adolescents, primarily mediated through inhibitory control.

The relationship between frontal alpha asymmetry and behavioral and brain activity indices of reactive inhibitory control.

Reactive inhibitory control plays an important role in phenotype of different diseases/different phases of a disease. One candidate electrophysiological marker of inhibitory control is frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA). FAA reflects the relative difference in contralateral frontal brain activity. However, the relationship between FAA and potential behavioral/brain activity indices of reactive inhibitory control is not yet clear. We assessed the relationship between resting-state FAA and indicators of reactive inhibitory control. Additionally, we investigated the effect of modulation of FAA via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). We implemented a randomized sham-controlled design with 65 healthy humans (Mage = 23.93; SDage = 6.08; 46 female). Before and after 2 mA anodal tDCS of the right frontal site (with the cathode at the contralateral site) for 20 minutes, we collected EEG data and reactive inhibitory performance in neutral and food-reward conditions using the Stop Signal Task (SST). There was no support for the effect of tDCS on FAA or any indices of reactive inhibitory control. Our correlation analysis revealed an association between inhibitory brain activity in the food-reward condition and (pre-tDCS) asymmetry. Higher right relative to left frontal brain activity was correlated with reduced early-onset inhibitory activity and in contrast, linked with higher late-onset inhibitory control in the food-reward condition. Similarly, event-related potential analyses showed reduced early-onset and enhanced late-onset inhibitory brain activity over time, particularly in the food-reward condition. These results suggest that there can be a dissociation regarding the lateralization of frontal brain activity and early and late onset inhibitory brain activity.

Trying to forget alcohol: Brain mechanisms underlying memory suppression in young binge drinkers.

People are able to voluntarily suppress unwanted thoughts or memories, a phenomenon known as suppression-induced forgetting or memory suppression. Despite harmful alcohol use, such as binge drinking, has been linked to impaired inhibitory control (IC) and augmented alcohol-cue reactivity, no study to date has assessed memory inhibition abilities towards alcohol-related cues in binge drinkers (BDs). Thus, the present preregistered study aimed to evaluate the behavioral and neurofunctional mechanisms associated with memory inhibition, specifically those related to the suppression of alcohol-related memories, in young BDs. For this purpose, electroencephalographic activity was recorded in eighty-two college students aged between 18 and 24 years old from the University of Minho (50% females; 40 non/low-drinkers [N/LDS] and 42 BDs) while they performed the Think/No-Think Alcohol task. Brain functional connectivity (FC) was calculated using the phase locking value and, subsequently, a dynamic seed-based analysis was conducted to explore the FC patterns between IC and memory networks. Comparatively to N/LDs, BDs exhibited decreased alpha-band FC between the anterior cingulate cortex and the left fusiform gyrus during attempts to suppress non-alcohol memories, accompanied by unsuccessful forgetting of those memories. Conversely, BDs displayed augmented gamma-band FC between the IC network and memory regions -i.e., hippocampus, parahippocampus and fusiform gyrus- during suppression of alcohol-related memories. Inhibitory abnormalities in BDs may lead to hypoconnectivity between IC and memory networks and deficient suppression of non-alcohol-related memories. However, while suppressing highly salient and reward-predicting stimuli, such as alcohol-related memories, BDs display a hyperconnectivity pattern between IC and memory networks, likely due to their augmented attention towards intrusive alcoholic memories and the attempts to compensate for potential underlying IC deficits. These findings hold important implications for alcohol research and treatment, as they open up new avenues for reducing alcohol use by shifting the focus to empowering suppression/control over alcohol-related memories. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: [http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05237414].

Effects of high-intensity interval training combined with dual-site transcranial direct current stimulation on inhibitory control and working memory in healthy adults.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) have been demonstrated to enhance inhibitory control and working memory (WM) performance in healthy adults. However, the potential benefits of combining these two interventions have been rarely explored and remain largely speculative. This study aimed to explore the effects of acute HIIT combined with dual-site tDCS over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, F3 and F4) on inhibitory control and WM in healthy young adults. Twenty-five healthy college students (20.5 ± 1.3 years; 11 females) were recruited to complete HIIT + tDCS, HIIT + sham-tDCS, rest + tDCS, and rest + sham-tDCS (CON) sessions in a randomized crossover design. tDCS or sham-tDCS was conducted after completing HIIT or a rest condition of the same duration. The Stroop and 2-back tasks were used to evaluate the influence of this combined intervention on cognitive tasks involving inhibitory control and WM performance in post-trials, respectively. Response times (RTs) of the Stroop task significantly improved in the HIIT + tDCS session compared to the CON session across all conditions (all p values <0.05), in the HIIT + tDCS session compared to the rest + tDCS session in the congruent and neutral conditions (all p values <0.05), in the HIIT + sham-tDCS session compared to the CON session in the congruent and neutral conditions (all p values <0.05), in the HIIT + sham-tDCS session compared to the rest + tDCS session in the congruent condition (p = 0.015). No differences were found between sessions in composite score of RT and accuracy in the Stroop task (all p values >0.05) and in the 2-back task reaction time and accuracy (all p values >0.05). We conclude that acute HIIT combined with tDCS effectively improved inhibitory control but it failed to yield cumulative benefits on inhibitory control and WM in healthy adults. These preliminary findings help to identify beneficial effects of combined interventions on cognitive performance and might guide future research with clinical populations.

Association of aerobic fitness and grip strength with cognitive and academic performance in Arab children.

This study investigated the association between aerobic and muscular fitness with the cognitive control and academic performance of preadolescent Arab children. Ninety-three children aged 10-13years (mean=11.5, SD=0.5) representing eight Arab nations (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Morocco) participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants completed tests for aerobic (progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run) and muscular (maximum grip strength) fitness, and cognitive control (flanker task). We assessed their academic performance based on their overall grade point average (GPA). Our analyses revealed that greater aerobic fitness was associated with higher GPA scores and greater muscular fitness was associated with a shorter response time in a task condition requiring extensive cognitive control (incongruent condition). No association was found between aerobic fitness and flanker task performance nor between muscular fitness and GPA. These results bridge the knowledge gap on the associations of physical fitness to the cognitive control and academic performance of Arab children, suggesting that the positive associations found in Western and Asian literature can be generalized to the Arab context.

Cognitive Correlates of Risky Decision-Making in Individuals with and without ADHD: A Meta-analysis.

This meta-analytic study aims to investigate the cognitive correlates of risky decision-making in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typically developing (TD) individuals. A systematic analysis of existing literature was conducted, encompassing 38 studies (496 ADHD and 1493 TD). Findings revealed a consistent propensity for riskier decision-making in individuals with ADHD, supported by significant correlations with attention, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, time perception, and working memory. The study underscores the relevance of these cognitive functions in shaping decision-making tendencies, with nuanced patterns observed within the ADHD and TD subgroups. Individuals with ADHD often demonstrate altered patterns of correlation, reflecting the specific cognitive challenges characteristic of the disorder.

Extended ambulatory assessment of executive function: within-person reliability of working memory and inhibitory control tasks.

INTRODUCTION: Ambulatory assessment of executive function - particularly in the form working memory (WM) - is increasingly common. Few studies to date, however, have also incorporated ambulatory measures of inhibitory control. Critically, the extended within-person reliability of ambulatory tasks tapping each of these constructs has been largely overlooked. METHOD: Participants (N = 283, Mage = 23.74 years, SD = 9.04) received notifications every 3 days (for 4 weeks) to undertake ambulatory assessment versions of the n-Back and Stop-Signal Tasks (SST) via the smartphone application CheckCog. Within-person reliability of these measures was explored. RESULTS: Compliance ranged from 66% (for eight sessions) to 89% (for four sessions). Our results reveal significant changes in performance within the first two sessions for both the n-Back and SST, with performance remaining largely consistent across the remaining (two to eight) sessions. In terms of test-retest reliability, the ICC (C, 1) values ranged from .29 to .68 on the n-Back (with overall accuracy being .51) and .31-.73 on the SST (with stop-signal reaction time being .53). CONCLUSION: The results of the current study contribute to the literature by demonstrating the reliability of brief measures of executive function - in the form of inhibitory control and WM - delivered using smartphones in participants' natural environments. Based on our findings, the CheckCog app reliability tracks baseline systematic changes in WM and response inhibition across multiple time points and for an extended period in healthy individuals.

Reactive Inhibitory Control Precedes Overt Stuttering Events.

Research points to neurofunctional differences underlying fluent speech between stutterers and non-stutterers. Considerably less work has focused on processes that underlie stuttered vs. fluent speech. Additionally, most of this research has focused on speech motor processes despite contributions from cognitive processes prior to the onset of stuttered speech. We used MEG to test the hypothesis that reactive inhibitory control is triggered prior to stuttered speech. Twenty-nine stutterers completed a delayed-response task that featured a cue (prior to a go cue) signaling the imminent requirement to produce a word that was either stuttered or fluent. Consistent with our hypothesis, we observed increased beta power likely emanating from the right pre-supplementary motor area (R-preSMA)-an area implicated in reactive inhibitory control-in response to the cue preceding stuttered vs. fluent productions. Beta power differences between stuttered and fluent trials correlated with stuttering severity and participants' percentage of trials stuttered increased exponentially with beta power in the R-preSMA. Trial-by-trial beta power modulations in the R-preSMA following the cue predicted whether a trial would be stuttered or fluent. Stuttered trials were also associated with delayed speech onset suggesting an overall slowing or freezing of the speech motor system that may be a consequence of inhibitory control. Post-hoc analyses revealed that independently generated anticipated words were associated with greater beta power and more stuttering than researcher-assisted anticipated words, pointing to a relationship between self-perceived likelihood of stuttering (i.e., anticipation) and inhibitory control. This work offers a neurocognitive account of stuttering by characterizing cognitive processes that precede overt stuttering events.

Effects of Practicing Closed- vs. Open-Skill Exercises on Executive Functions in Individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)-A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

(1) Background: Previous studies have identified discrepancies in improvements in executive functioning in typically developing children when comparing closed- and open-skill exercise interventions. However, there is limited research on executive functioning in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the impact of closed- and open-skill exercises on ADHD populations. (2) Methods: The PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews were followed to search seven databases to evaluate and analyze studies published from 2013 to 2023. Prospero: CRD42023460452. (3) Results: A meta-analysis of 578 subjects with ADHD in 11 RCTs (Randomized control trial) and 3 NRS (Non-randomized studies) revealed that closed-skill exercise significantly improved executive function subdomains, including inhibitory control (standardized mean differences (SMD) = -1.00), cognitive flexibility (SMD = -1.33), and working memory (SMD = -0.85). Furthermore, open-skill exercise was found to have a positive effect on inhibitory control (SMD = -1.98) and cognitive flexibility (SMD = -0.97) in ADHD patients. Both types of exercise interventions demonstrated an improvement in executive function compared to controls, with open-skill exercises exhibiting superior effects (Qb = 6.26). (4) Conclusions: The review recommends a 12-week intervention cycle with exercise at least twice a week of moderate or higher intensity as suitable for ADHD individuals. This review also encourages individuals with ADHD to engage in exercises involving multiple motor skill types.

The impact of exercise on food-related inhibitory control- do calories, time of day, and BMI matter? Evidence from an event-related potential (ERP) study.

A growing body of research suggests exercise improves inhibitory control functions. We tested if exercise-related inhibitory control benefits extend to food-related inhibitory control and differ by calorie content, time of day, and weight status. One hundred thirty-eight individuals were pseudo-randomly assigned to a morning or evening group. Each subject participated in two lab sessions where they completed questionnaires (rest session) or walked on a treadmill at 3.8mph (exercise session) for 45 min. After each session, participants completed both a high-calorie and low-calorie go/no-go task while N2 and P3 event-related potentials (ERP), both neural indicators of inhibitory control, were measured. Participants also rated food images for valence and arousal. While N2 and P3 difference amplitudes were larger to high-calorie than low-calorie foods, neither exercise nor time of day affected results. Individuals had faster response times after exercise without decreases in accuracy. Arousal and valence for high-calorie foods were lower after exercise and lower for all foods after morning compared to evening exercise. In a subset of individuals with obesity and normal-weight individuals, individuals with obesity had larger N2 difference amplitudes after morning exercise, while normal-weight individuals had larger P3 difference amplitudes to high-calorie foods after exercise. Results suggest moderate exercise did not affect food-related inhibitory control generally, although morning exercise may be beneficial in improving early recruitment of food-related inhibitory control in individuals with obesity. Moderate exercise, particularly in the morning, may also help manage increased attention allocated to food.

Impaired inhibitory control when processing real but not cartoon emotional faces in autistic children: Evidence from an event-related potential study.

Impaired socioemotional functioning characterizes autistic children, but does weak inhibition control underlie their socioemotional difficulty? This study addressed this question by examining whether and, if so, how inhibition control is affected by face realism and emotional valence in school-age autistic and neurotypical children. Fifty-two autistic and 52 age-matched neurotypical controls aged 10-12 years completed real and cartoon emotional face Go/Nogo tasks while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The analyses of inhibition-emotion components (i.e., N2, P3, and LPP) and a face-specific N170 revealed that autistic children elicited greater N2 while inhibiting Nogo trials and greater P3/LPP and late LPP for real but not cartoon emotional faces. Moreover, autistic children exhibited a reduced N170 to real face emotions only. Furthermore, correlation results showed that better behavioral inhibition and emotion recognition in autistic children were associated with a reduced N170. These findings suggest that neural mechanisms of inhibitory control in autistic children are less efficient and more disrupted during real face processing, which may affect their age-appropriate socio-emotional development.

Acute effect of complexity in basketball on cognitive capacity.

Background: Executive functions, notably inhibition, significantly influence decision-making and behavioral regulation in team sports. However, more research must be conducted on individual player characteristics such as experience and motor skills. This study assessed how accumulated practical experience moderates inhibition in response to varying task difficulty levels. Methods: Forty-four university students (age: 20.36 ± 3.13 years) participated in this study with two sessions: one followed standard 1 × 1 basketball rules ("Regular Practice"), while the other imposed motor, temporal, and spatial restrictions ("Restriction Practice"). Functional difficulty was controlled by grouping pairs with similar skill levels. Flanker and Go-Nogo tasks were used. Results: Increasing complexity worsened cognitive performance (inhibition). "Restriction Practice" showed a significantly slower and less accurate performance in both tests than "Regular Practice" (p < 0.001). Experience positively impacted test speed and accuracy (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In sports, acute cognitive impacts are intrinsically linked to the task's complexity and the athlete's cognitive resources. In this sense, it is essential to adjust individually the cognitive demands of the tasks, considering each athlete's specific cognitive abilities and capacities.

Factors influencing the role of inhibitory control in non-symbolic numerical processing.

Previous studies have found that inhibitory control plays an important role in non-symbolic numerical processing. However, this role may be influenced by the visual cue control method or the stimulus' presentation time. We investigated these questions by conducting three experiments using a priming paradigm to compare the level of inhibitory control in a sequential dot comparison task with single-dimensional and multi-dimensional control of visual cues under two presentation time conditions (300 ms and 1500 ms). We found that neither the method of visual cue control nor the presentation time of dot arrays affected the level of inhibitory control in the dot comparison task. These results reveal a stable role of inhibitory control in non-symbolic numerical processing, providing further evidence for integrating numerical and visual information during non-symbolic numerical processing.

The Role of Anatomic Connectivity in Inhibitory Control Revealed by Combining Connectome-based Lesion-symptom Mapping with Event-related Potentials.

Inhibitory control refers to the ability to suppress cognitive or motor processes. Current neurocognitive models indicate that this function mainly involves the anterior cingulate cortex and the inferior frontal cortex. However, how the communication between these areas influence inhibitory control performance and their functional response remains unknown. We addressed this question by injecting behavioral and electrophysiological markers of inhibitory control recorded during a Go/NoGo task as the 'symptoms' in a connectome-based lesion-symptom mapping approach in a sample of 96 first unilateral stroke patients. This approach enables us to identify the white matter tracts whose disruption by the lesions causally influences brain functional activity during inhibitory control. We found a central role of left frontotemporal and frontobasal intrahemispheric connections, as well as of the connections between the left temporoparietal and right temporal areas in inhibitory control performance. We also found that connections between the left temporal and right superior parietal areas modulate the conflict-related N2 event-related potential component and between the left temporal parietal area and right temporal and occipital areas for the inhibition P3 component. Our study supports the role of a distributed bilateral network in inhibitory control and reveals that combining lesion-symptom mapping approaches with functional indices of cognitive processes could shed new light on post-stroke functional reorganization. It may further help to refine the interpretation of classical electrophysiological markers of executive control in stroke patients.

Music training is related to late ERP modulation and enhanced performance during Simon task but not Stroop task.

Increasing evidence suggests that music training correlates with better performance in tasks measuring executive function components including inhibitory control, working memory and selective attention. The Stroop and Simon tasks measure responses to congruent and incongruent information reflecting cognitive conflict resolution. However, there are more reports of a music-training advantage in the Simon than the Stroop task. Reports indicate that these tasks may differ in the timing of conflict resolution: the Stroop task might involve early sensory stage conflict resolution, while the Simon task may do so at a later motor output planning stage. We hypothesize that musical experience relates to conflict resolution at the late motor output stage rather than the early sensory stage. Behavioral responses, and event-related potentials (ERP) were measured in participants with varying musical experience during these tasks. It was hypothesized that musical experience correlates with better performance in the Simon but not the Stroop task, reflected in ERP components in the later stage of motor output processing in the Simon task. Participants were classified into high- and low-music training groups based on the Goldsmith Musical Sophistication Index. Electrical brain activity was recorded while they completed visual Stroop and Simon tasks. The high-music training group outperformed the low-music training group on the Simon, but not the Stroop task. Mean amplitude difference (incongruent-congruent trials) was greater for the high-music training group at N100 for midline central (Cz) and posterior (Pz) sites in the Simon task and midline central (Cz) and frontal (Fz) sites in the Stroop task, and at N450 at Cz and Pz in the Simon task. N450 difference peaks occurred earlier in the high-music training group at Pz. Differences between the groups at N100 indicate that music training may be related to better sensory discrimination. These differences were not related to better behavioral performance. Differences in N450 responses between the groups, particularly in regions encompassing the motor and parietal cortices, suggest a role of music training in action selection during response conflict situations. Overall, this supports the hypothesis that music training selectively enhances cognitive conflict resolution during late motor output planning stages.