The spatiotemporal brain dynamics of cognitive control

Abstract Understanding the neural foundations of response inhibition is pivotal to unraveling parts of the mechanisms of cognitive control. Advanced human neuroimaging is able to converge the temporal precision of electroencephalography (EEG) with the spatial accuracy of simultaneous EEG-functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) to illustrate the intricate neural dynamics at play during a Go/No-Go (GNG) task, as performed by fifty-five right-handed participants. Our analysis reveals the influence of beta oscillations in the right anterior insular cortex (AIC) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)— areas implicated in impulse control— during the early event-related potentials (ERPs) component (N1), therefore marking the commencement of sensory processing and the mobilization of cognitive control networks. Subsequently, the propagation of beta oscillations into the left AIC and IFG underlines their importance to sensory integration. Following the early ERP stages, the engagement of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during the late ERP component (P3) accentuates its function in arbitrating cognitive control and decision-making. Furthermore, the subsequent activations within the supplementary motor area (SMA) and primary motor cortex (M1) demarcate their roles in network operation and action termination. In light of the recent surge in interest in exploring the nuances of response inhibition under diverse stimulus visibility thresholds — specifically supraliminal versus subliminal — we too investigated the impact of perceptual awareness on the activation of the response inhibition network. We discerned divergent neural activations between conditions: the supraliminal state induced uniform activity across the network, whereas subliminal conditions presented a more convoluted, reciprocal pattern among these regions and the visual cortex. Our inquiry furthers the understanding of the temporal and oscillatory mechanisms that fortify response inhibition, offering perspectives on the implicated brain regions and their functional orchestration in response to varying stimulus visibility. This work holds promise for the development of time-efficient, imaging-based biomarkers that could facilitate the diagnosis of conditions characterized by impaired impulse control, such as addiction and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.