The Influence of Conditioning Go/NoGo Stimuli on the Levels of Induced Responses to Facial Stimuli

Abstract

We studied the dynamics of cortical potentials in four frequency ranges (8–13, 15–20, 21–40 and 41–60 Hz) upon the presentation in the middle interval of conditioning Go/NoGo stimuli in the cognitive model of facial expression in 4-second intervals between the target and the trigger stimuli (wavelet transform). The patterns of significant induced responses formed in certain cortical areas in each of the hemispheres differed in the groups of subjects depending on the task performance. The effect of both conditioning stimuli on the levels of induced responses is shown depending on the frequency range. In the first ranges, the effect of positive Go stimuli was dominant. The inhibitory NoGo stimulus in the high-frequency range 41–60 Hz had a significantly more pronounced effect on the levels of induced responses, which determined the formation of patterns of significant responses in larger zones of the activated areas. We assume that the process of mutual influence between the functionally different Go and NoGo stimuli in a wide band of EEG components is an important factor determining the interaction of the high-frequency activity with other frequency bands in spatially separated regions, which, in turn, ensures the conditions for human cognitive activity.