Abstract
The study investigates the neurocognitive stages involved in the speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT). Contrary to previous approach, we did not manipulate speed and accuracy instructions: participants were required to be fast and accurate in a go/no-go task, and we selected post-hoc the groups based on the subjects’ spontaneous behavioral tendency. Based on the reaction times, we selected the fast and slow groups (Speed-groups), and based on the percentage of false alarms, we selected the accurate and inaccurate groups (Accuracy-groups). The two Speed-groups were accuracy-matched, and the two Accuracy-groups were speed-matched. High density electroencephalographic (EEG) and stimulus-locked analyses allowed us to observe group differences both before and after the stimulus onset. Long before the stimulus appearance, the two Speed-groups showed different amplitude of the Bereitschaftspotential (BP), reflecting the activity of the supplementary motor area (SMA); by contrast, the two Accuracy-groups showed different amplitude of the prefrontal negativity (pN), reflecting the activity of the right prefrontal cortex (rPFC). In addition, the post-stimulus event-related potential (ERP) components showed differences between groups: the P1 component was larger in accurate than inaccurate group; the N1 and N2 components were larger in the fast than slow group; the P3 component started earlier and was larger in the fast than slow group. The go minus no-go subtractive wave enhancing go-related processing revealed a differential prefrontal positivity (dpP) that peaked at about 330 ms; the latency and the amplitude of this peak were associated with the speed of the decision process and the efficiency of the stimulus-response mapping, respectively. Overall, data are consistent with the view that speed and accuracy are processed by two interacting but separate neurocognitive systems, with different features in both the anticipation and the response execution phases.
Highlights
In a typical go/no-go task subjects are required to quickly respond to go trials and to refrain the response to no-go trials
Time 0 represents the stimulus onset; inspection of the figure indicates that these stimulus-locked event-related potential (ERP) using long pre-stimulus analysis allow to appreciate the motor preparation activity, which is usually obtained by the motor response-locked ERPs, called movement-related cortical potentials (MRCPs)
The prefrontal negativity started about 800 ms before the stimulus appearance; 200 ms later, over Cz, emerged the BP that progressively raised reaching its maximum at about 300 ms before the stimulus onset
Summary
In a typical go/no-go task subjects are required to quickly respond to go trials (e.g., pressing a button) and to refrain the response to no-go trials. This task has been widely investigated because it involves many cognitive processes, such as motor preparation (Rinkenauer et al, 2004; Berchicci et al, 2012), sensory evidence accumulation (Burle et al, 2004; Perea et al, 2010), decision-making (Schall, 2001; Heekeren et al, 2008), proactive and reactive inhibition (Aron et al, 2004; Aron, 2011) and motor response. Fast decisions are more error prone, while careful ones take longer (Wenzlaff et al, 2011); this phenomenon is known as the speed-accuracy tradeoff (hereafter, SAT) (for a review see Bogacz et al, 2010)
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