Abstract
In order to accomplish a task goal, real-life environments require us to develop different action control strategies in order to rapidly react to fast-moving visual and auditory stimuli. When engaging in complex scenarios, it is essential to prioritise and cascade different actions. Recent studies have pointed to an important role of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic system in the neuromodulation of action cascading. In this study we assessed the specific causal role of the GABA-ergic system in modulating the efficiency of action cascading by administering 800 mg of synthetic GABA or 800 mg oral of microcrystalline cellulose (placebo). In a double-blind, randomised, between-group design, 30 healthy adults performed a stop-change paradigm. Results showed that the administration of GABA, compared to placebo, increased action selection when an interruption (stop) and a change towards an alternative response were required simultaneously, and when such a change had to occur after the completion of the stop process. These findings, involving the systemic administration of synthetic GABA, provide the first evidence for a possible causal role of the GABA-ergic system in modulating performance in action cascading.
Highlights
In order to accomplish a task goal, real-life environments require us to develop different action control strategies in order to rapidly react to fast-moving visual and auditory stimuli
Action cascading was assessed by means of a well-established stop-change paradigm[2], in which participants are required to stop an ongoing response to a GO stimulus whenever an occasional STOP stimulus is presented
While reaction times (RTs) to the GO stimuli are assumed to reflect the efficiency of response execution, RTs on stop-change trials can be taken to reflect the efficiency of action cascading, with shorter RTs reflecting a more efficient action selection
Summary
In order to accomplish a task goal, real-life environments require us to develop different action control strategies in order to rapidly react to fast-moving visual and auditory stimuli. Given the aforementioned link between GABA and action selection and inhibition, it is reasonable to expect GABA levels to determine the efficacy of action cascading processes Consistent with this hypothesis, Yildiz and colleagues[22] have shown, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), that superior performance in action cascading was associated with increased concentrations of striatal GABA. Stock and colleagues[24] showed that high-dosage alcohol, an unselective GABA-ergic agent[25], impaired action selection Taken together, these findings indicate a critical role of GABA in the neuromodulation of action cascading processes and suggest that increased[22,23], but not too high[24], levels of GABA are associated with better action cascading performance. Based on previous findings[5,6,20,21,22,23], we expected the administration of synthetic GABA to enhance action cascading processes (i.e. to decrease RTs on the change trials) when (a) an interruption (stop) of the current response and a change towards an alternative response are required simultaneously (SCD0), and when (b) the change to the alternative
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