Arrow Flanker Task Research Articles

Inefficient and unique processing of social-emotional interference in school-aged children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.

Interest is growing in investigating the ability of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to process social information under conflicting and complex environments. However, few studies have employed objective behavioral measures to directly explore the underlying profile of social-emotional interference control. In the current study, 53 children with ASD and 53 typically developing (TD) control, aged 6-12 years, completed a set of modified flanker tasks involving arrows, schematic faces, same real faces (with facial interference by the same person), and different real faces (with facial interference by different people), respectively. Response time in incongruent (RTInc) and congruent conditions (RTCon), percentage of errors in incongruent (%ErrorInc) and congruent conditions (%ErrorCon), and flanker effect calculated by ΔRT = (RTInc - RTCon)/RTCon and Δ%Error = %ErrorInc - %ErrorCon were used as outcome metrics. We obtained three major results: (1) the ASD group had longer RTInc and RTCon compared to the TD group in the arrow, schematic-face, and same real-face tasks; (2) compared with the performance in the arrow flanker task, both groups exhibited longer RTs and reduced ΔRTs in the same real-face task; however, in the schematic-face task, longer RT and reduced ΔRT were exhibited in the TD group, but not in the ASD group; and (3) in the different real-face task, ASD group had higher %Error than the TD group, and %Error was negatively correlated with RT only in the ASD group. The current study delineates the inefficient processing of social-emotional interference in school-aged children with ASD and further suggests that these children might adopt a relatively optimized strategy like symbolization when dealing with emotional conflict. However, such compensatory cognitive strategies may be exhausted along with the increase in information load. These findings provide new perspectives of considering the difference more than difficulty in the cognitive profile of ASD, which will benefit the development of targeted behavioral interventions.

Error-related brain activity shapes the association between trait neuroticism and internalizing symptomatology in two tasks

The current study examined how individual differences in error-related brain activity might moderate the association between high trait neuroticism and internalizing symptoms. Data were collected from a sample of high-achieving young adults (N = 188) as part of a larger study on risk versus resiliency for psychopathology. Participants completed two behavioral tasks to elicit the error-related negativity (ERN): an arrow Flanker task and a Go/No-Go task. Analyses were constrained to two internalizing symptom dimensions of checking behavior and irritability. Contrary to expectations, ERN amplitude was not related to symptom severity at the bivariate level. However, ERN amplitude moderated the association between trait neuroticism and symptoms of ill temper, such that the neuroticism-irritability association was strongest among individuals with a blunted ERN. In addition, this finding was relatively consistent across tasks and across two complementary methods of scoring the ERN, suggesting an effect of ERN variance that is shared between tasks and that is relatively robust regarding processing differences. In all, the current study represents the first attempt to investigate how the ERN interacts with trait neuroticism to predict transdiagnostic symptom dimensions in adulthood.

Comparative analysis of ROCKET-driven and classic EEG features in predicting attachment styles

Predicting attachment styles using AI algorithms remains relatively unexplored in scientific literature. This study addresses this gap by employing EEG data to evaluate the effectiveness of ROCKET-driven features versus classic features, both analyzed using the XGBoost machine learning algorithm, for classifying ‘secure’ or ‘insecure’ attachment styles.Participants, fourth-year engineering students aged 20–35, first completed the ECR-R questionnaire. A subset then underwent EEG sessions while performing the Arrow Flanker Task, receiving success or failure feedback for each trial.Our findings reveal the effectiveness of both feature sets. The dataset with ROCKET-derived features demonstrated an 88.41% True Positive Rate (TPR) in classifying ‘insecure’ attachment styles, compared to the classic features dataset, which achieved a notable TPR as well. Visual representations further support ROCKET-derived features’ proficiency in identifying insecure attachment tendencies, while the classic features exhibited limitations in classification accuracy. Although the ROCKET-derived features exhibited higher TPR, the classic features also presented a substantial predictive ability.In conclusion, this study advances the integration of AI in psychological assessments, emphasizing the significance of feature selection for specific datasets and applications. While both feature sets effectively classified EEG-based attachment styles, the ROCKET-derived features demonstrated a superior performance across multiple metrics, making them the preferred choice for this study.

The balance N1 and the ERN correlate in amplitude across individuals in small samples of younger and older adults.

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a neural correlate of error monitoring often used to investigate individual differences in developmental, mental health, and adaptive contexts. However, limited experimental control over errors presents several confounds to its measurement. An experimentally controlled disturbance to standing balance evokes the balance N1, which we previously suggested may share underlying mechanisms with the ERN based on a number of shared features and factors. We now measure whether the balance N1 and ERN are correlated across individuals within two small groups (N = 21 young adults and N = 20 older adults). ERNs were measured in arrow flanker tasks using hand and foot response modalities (ERN-hand and ERN-foot). The balance N1 was evoked by sudden slip-like movements of the floor while standing. The ERNs and the balance N1 showed good and excellent internal consistency, respectively, and were correlated in amplitude in both groups. One principal component strongly loaded on all three evoked potentials, suggesting that the majority of individual differences are shared across the three ERPs. However, there remains a significant component of variance shared between the ERN-hand and ERN-foot beyond what they share with the balance N1. It is unclear whether this component of variance is specific to the arrow flanker task, or something fundamentally related to error processing that is not evoked by a sudden balance disturbance. If the balance N1 were to reflect error processing mechanisms indexed by the ERN, balance paradigms offer several advantages in terms of experimental control over errors.

Effects of feedback reliability on event-related potentials in an arrow flanker task.

The processing of feedback is essential for learning, error detection, and correction. However, the underlying mechanisms of the feedback's characteristics, such as its reliability, valence, and expectations in the processing of error information, are not completely clear. The two degrees of feedback reliability, reliable feedback and unreliable feedback, respectively, were established by manipulating the feedback valence. The time course of event-related potentials (ERP) during the arrow flanker tasks was used to investigate the effects of feedback reliability and responses on brain activity. Three ERP components, the error-related negativity (ERN), feedback-related negativity (FRN), and P3, respectively, were measured. The impacts of feedback reliability and responses on ERN, FRN, and P3 had a different profile. Specifically, ERN and P3 are associated with the responses but not the feedback reliability, while FRN is associated with feedback reliability and feedback expectations but not the responses. The ERN, FRN, and P3 reflect distinct cognitive processes in the processing of error information.

Time flows vertically in Chinese

Speakers of Mandarin Chinese are thought to conceptualise time along the vertical axis—as evidence for metaphor embodiment—but the extant behavioural evidence remains unclear. Here, we used electrophysiology to test space–time conceptual relationships implicitly in native speakers of Chinese. We employed a modified arrow flanker task, in which the central arrow in a set of three was replaced by a spatial word (e.g., 上–‘up’), a spatiotemporal metaphor (e. g., 上个月–‘last month’, literally ‘up month’) or a non-spatial temporal expression (e.g., 去年 –‘last year’, literally ‘gone year’). N400 modulations of event-related brain potentials served to measure the level of perceived congruency between semantic word content and arrow direction. Critically, we tested whether N400 modulations expected for spatial words and spatial temporal metaphors would generalise to non-spatial temporal expressions. In addition to the predicted N400 effects, we found a congruency effect of a similar magnitude for non-spatial temporal metaphors. On the basis of direct brain measurements indexing semantic processing, and in the absence of contrastive behavioural patterns, we demonstrate that native speakers of Chinese conceptualise time along the vertical axis, and thus have embodied spatiotemporal metaphors.

Genetic Overlap Between Midfrontal Theta Signals and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Longitudinal Twin Cohort

BackgroundCognitive control has been strongly linked to midfrontal theta (4–8 Hz) brain activity. Such control processes are known to be impaired in individuals with psychiatric conditions and neurodevelopmental diagnoses, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Temporal variability in theta, in particular, has been associated with ADHD, with shared genetic variance underlying the relationship. Here, we investigated the phenotypic and genetic relationships between theta phase variability, theta-related signals (the N2, error-related negativity, and error positivity), reaction time, and ADHD and ASD longitudinally in a large twin study of young adults to investigate the stability of the genetic relationships between these measures over time. MethodsGenetic multivariate liability threshold models were run on a longitudinal sample of 566 participants (283 twin pairs). Characteristics of ADHD and ASD were measured in childhood and young adulthood, while an electroencephalogram was recorded in young adulthood during an arrow flanker task. ResultsCross-trial theta phase variability in adulthood showed large positive phenotypic and genetic relationships with reaction time variability and both childhood and adult ADHD characteristics. Error positivity amplitude was negatively related phenotypically and genetically to ADHD and ASD at both time points. ConclusionsWe showed significant genetic associations between variability in theta signaling and ADHD. A novel finding from the current study is that these relationships were stable across time, indicating a core dysregulation of the temporal coordination of control processes in ADHD that persists in individuals with childhood symptoms. Error processing, indexed by the error positivity, was altered in both ADHD and ASD, with a strong genetic contribution.

Context-specific effects of threatening faces on alerting, orienting, and executive control: A fNIRS study

Real-world threatening faces possess both useful and irrelevant attributes with respect to the current goal. How these attributes interact and affect attention, which comprises at least three processes hypothesized to engage the frontal lobes (alerting, orienting, and executive control), remains poorly understood. Here, the neurocognitive effects of threatening facial expressions on the three processes of attention were examined through the emotional Attention Network Test (ANT) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Forty-seven (20M, 27F) young adults performed a blocked version of the arrow flanker task with neutral and angry facial cues applied in three cue conditions (no, center, and spatial). Hemodynamic changes occurring in participants' frontal cortices during task performance were recorded by multichannel fNIRS. Behavioral results indicated that alerting, orienting, and executive control processes existed in both the neutral and angry conditions. However, depending on the context, angry facial cues affected these processes differently compared with neutral facial cues. Specifically, the angry face disrupted the classical decrease in reaction time from the no-cue to center-cue condition specifically during the congruent condition. Additionally, fNIRS results revealed significant frontal cortical activation during the incongruent vs. congruent task; neither cue nor emotion significantly affected frontal activation. Thus, the findings suggest that the angry face affects all three attentional processes while exerting context-specific effects on attention. They also imply that during the ANT, the frontal cortex is most involved in executive control. The present study offers essential insights into how various attributes of threatening faces interact and alter attention.

The questionable validity of attention bias variability: Evidence from two conceptually unrelated cognitive tasks.

Attention bias variability is thought to measure fluctuations in attention towards and away from threat-related information and is elevated in affective disorders. However, recent evidence suggests that attention bias variability may quantify general reaction time variability rather than attention bias behavior per se. The current study calculated "attention bias variability" from two conceptually unrelated cognitive tasks: the dot-probe task (measuring attentional bias) and the arrow flanker task (measuring cognitive control). Attention bias variability measures were correlated across these unrelated tasks. Yet, when general reaction time variability was controlled, attention bias variability across tasks was no longer correlated. In addition, the reliability of attention bias variability measures decreased when controlling for general reaction time variability. Finally, although attention bias variability calculated from the dot-probe task initially correlated with anxious symptoms, this association was no longer significant when controlling for general reaction time variability. Our sample was comprised of high trait anxious individuals. Replication in clinical samples is warranted. These findings collectively provide strong empirical evidence that attention bias variability is not a valid measure of attention-related behavior, but reflective of general reaction time variability more broadly.

Abnormally Enhanced Midfrontal Theta Activity During Response Monitoring in Youths With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

BackgroundResponse monitoring, as reflected in electroencephalogram recordings after commission of errors, has been consistently shown to be abnormally enhanced in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This has traditionally been quantified as error-related negativity (ERN) and may reflect abnormal neurophysiological mechanisms underlying OCD. However, the ERN reflects the increase in phase-locked activities, particularly in the theta-band (4–8 Hz), and does not reflect non–phase-locked activities. To more broadly investigate midfrontal theta activity in a brain region that is essential for complex cognition, this study investigated theta abnormalities during response monitoring in participants with OCD to acheive a better understanding of the mechanism underlying the ERN. MethodsElectroencephalogram data were recorded from 99 participants with pediatric OCD and 99 sex- and age-matched healthy control participants while they completed the arrow flanker task. Effects of group (OCD, healthy control) and response type (error, correct) on postresponse theta total power and intertrial phase coherence (ITPC) were examined using mixed analysis of covariance and Bayesian analyses controlling for sex and accuracy. ResultsTheta total power was larger on error than on correct trials and larger in OCD than healthy control participants, but there was no effect of response type between groups. Theta ITPC was larger on error than correct trials, but there was no group difference or response type difference between the groups. Correlations of theta total power and ITPC with clinical measures were overall small. ConclusionsAbnormally enhanced midfrontal theta total power, but not ITPC, may reflect ineffective heightened response monitoring or compensatory activity in pediatric OCD.

Increased Intra-Individual Variability as a Marker of Executive Dysfunction in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Recent studies suggest that individual difference in intra-individual variability (IIV) of reaction times is an important indicator of attentional executive control. However, there are few existing studies on the executive control of high trait-anxious individuals assessed by using reaction time variability. This study assessed whether executive functions are impaired among clinical and non-clinical trait-anxious individuals indicated by IIV. The cross-reliability and discriminative power of three IIV parameters (raw intra-individual standard deviation, SD; reaction time coefficient of variation, RTCV; and mean absolute deviation, MAD) were compared. Twenty-five non-clinical individuals with low trait anxiety (LTA), 31 non-clinical individuals with high trait anxiety (HTA), and 19 clinical patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) finished self-reported measures, an emotional spatial-cuing task, and a non-emotional arrow flanker task. In the emotional task, GAD patients had significantly slower response speed, lower accuracy, and greater IIV parameters than the LTA and HTA groups. In the non-emotional task, the GAD group exhibited poorer processing efficiency, greater SD and RTCV, and intact performance effectiveness. RTCV is suggested to be a better marker of executive dysfunction than SD and MAD due to its good discriminative power and reliability as well as less affected by reaction times.

No change in electrocortical measures of performance monitoring in high trait anxious individuals following multi-session attention bias modification training

Heightened attentional bias to threat and enhanced performance monitoring have been linked to higher levels of anxiety. Attentional bias modification (ABM) was developed to reduce attentional bias to threat and thus reduce anxiety. Previous studies have shown that ABM can change the activity in brain regions that are involved in cognitive control and threat detection, such as anterior cingulate cortex, which also plays a critical role in error monitoring and is the main source of the error-related negativity (ERN). While single session ABM has been shown to be effective in reducing attentional bias to threat and performance monitoring (i.e., ERN), the effect of multi-session ABM training on electrocortical measures of performance monitoring in high trait anxious individuals remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated whether multi-session ABM training would reduce the amplitude of the ERN. Individuals with high trait anxiety and attentional bias to threat were assigned in a counterbalanced order to an ABM training group (n = 26) or a control group (n = 25). Training lasted for 6 weeks with 36 training sessions delivered via cellphone. Before and after training, attentional bias was assessed with a visual dot-probe task and performance monitoring was measured with an arrow flanker task where the elicited ERN was collected. ABM training did not reduce ERN amplitudes. Bayesian analysis confirmed the null hypothesis of no changes in ERN amplitude following multi-session ABM. Therefore, our findings do not support the hypothesis that multi-session ABM training reduces performance monitoring processes in high trait anxious individuals. Our findings indicate that different methodological features of ABM training, such as the duration, location, and subject characteristics, may impact the efficacy of ABM on modulating performance monitoring. Identifying the ABM training parameters that impact performance monitoring processes should be further considered in future research.

Parsing the Neural Mechanisms of Short-Term and Long-Term Associations in the Flanker Tasks: An ERP Analysis.

The neural mechanisms of cognitive conflicts within various flanker tasks are still unclear, which may be mixed with different effects of short-term associations and long-term associations. We applied a perceptual (color) flanker task and a symbolic (arrow) flanker task to 25 healthy young adults, while the event-related potentials (ERP) and behavioral performance were recorded. The former contains stimulus-stimulus conflict (SSC) of short-term memory (STM) associations, and the latter contains stimulus-response conflict (SRC) of long-term memory (LTM) associations. Both flanker tasks included congruent and incongruent conditions. The reaction time demonstrated the stimulus-response conflict effect in the arrow flanker task without the stimulus-stimulus conflict effect in the color flanker task. The ERP results showed SSC enhanced the frontocentral N2b without behavioral effects. SRC increased the frontocentral P2 but decreased the centroparietal P3b with prolonged reaction time. In the comparison between both tasks, the color flanker task elicited both the centroparietal N2b/N300 and the frontocentral N400, and the arrow flanker task increased the occipital N1. Our findings provide new evidence that different neural mechanisms underlie conflict effects based on different types of memory associations.

An investigation of the effects of different shift schedules on the fatigue and sleepiness of officers on oil tankers during cargo handling operations

Cargo handling is an operation, which requires a high level of performance from the officer of the watch (OOW). This study aimed to investigate the effect of different shift schedules on sleep quality, cognitive performance, and sleepiness of 139 OOWs on oil tankers with 4on–8off shifts, during the first shift of cargo handling. Sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)), level of sleepiness (the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS)), Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), and Arrow Flanker task performance were examined. The results showed that OOWs with (00:00–04:00, 12:00–16:00) and (04:00–08:00, 16:00–20:00) shifts had impaired cognitive performance and higher sleepiness during the cargo handling operation, and they also experienced impaired sleep quality. The results demonstrated that the circadian rhythm and homeostatic sleep drive have a greater impact on cognitive performance and sleepiness than time on shifts. These results suggest that allocating rest hours immediately before the cargo handling operation may reduce the risk of fatigue. Practitioner Summary: To the best of our knowledge, this maritime field study shows for the first time the prevalence of seafarers’ sleepiness and cognitive performance while on duty during cargo handling, using a pre-post shift comparison between three different shifts. The results show the negative effects of keeping watch at night on sleep quality, sleepiness, and the impaired cognitive performance both in the day and the night shifts.

Associations between lifetime stress exposure and the error-related negativity (ERN) differ based on stressor characteristics and exposure timing in young adults.

Life stress increases risk for multiple forms of psychopathology, in part by altering neural processes involved in performance monitoring. However, the ways in which these stress-cognition effects are influenced by the specific timing and types of life stressors experienced remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we examined how different social-psychological characteristics and developmental timing of stressors are related to the error-related negativity (ERN), a negative-going deflection in the event-related potential (ERP) waveform that is observed from 0 to 100 ms following error commission. A sample of 203 emerging adults performed an ERN-eliciting arrow flanker task and completed an interview-based measure of lifetime stress exposure. Adjusting for stress severity during other developmental periods, there was a small-to-medium effect of stress on performance monitoring, such that more severe total stress exposure, as well as more severe social-evaluative stress in particular, experienced during early adolescence significantly predicted an enhanced ERN. These results suggest that early adolescence may be a sensitive developmental period during which stress exposure may result in lasting adaptations to neural networks implicated in performance monitoring.

A commentary on establishing norms for error-related brain activity during the arrow flanker task among young adults

We suggest that a large data set for the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) components of the scalp-recorded event-related brain potential (ERP) recently published as normative is not ready for such use in research and, especially, clinical application. Such efforts are challenged by an incomplete understanding of the functional significance of between-person differences in amplitudes and of nuisance factors that contribute to amplitude differences, a lack of standardization of methods, and the use of a convenience sample for the potentially normative database. To move ERPs toward standardization and useful norms, we encourage more research on the meaning of differences in ERN scores, including factors that influence between- and within-person variation, and the dissemination of protocols for data collection and processing.

Authors’ reply to the commentary on “Establishing norms for error-related brain activity during the arrow Flanker task among young adults”

In their commentary on our article, “Establishing norms for error-related brain activity during the arrow Flanker task among young adults” (Imburgio et al., 2020), Clayson and colleagues (2021) voiced their concerns about our development of norms for an event-related potential measure of error monitoring, the error-related negativity (ERN). The central flaw in their commentary is the idea that because we don't know all the factors that can affect the ERN, it should not be normed. We respond to this idea, while also reiterating points made in our original manuscript: a) at present, the reported norms are not intended to be used for individual clinical assessment and b) our norms should be considered specific to the procedures (i.e., recording and processing parameters) and task used (i.e., arrow Flanker). Contrary to Clayson and colleagues’ claims, we believe that information about the distribution of the ERN (i.e., our norms) in a large sample representative of those used in much of the ERN literature (i.e., unselected young adults) will be useful to the field and that this information stands to increase, not decrease, understanding of the ERN.

Poor sleep quality, long working hours and fatigue in coastal areas: a dangerous combination of silent risk factors for deck officers on oil tankers.

The high number of marine incidents in port and coastal areas due to the tired deck officers' erroneous actions are one of the major challenges of marine transportation. Approaching, berthing, and cargo handling (ABC) are the most stressful and exhausting operations of the ship in these areas, which are carried out consecutively and uninterruptedly. This study examined Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) performance, Arrow Flanker Task performance and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) of 70 deck officers of ocean-going oil tankers with 4on-8off shifts at the end of the first shift of cargo-handling operations. In this case, they had worked more than 14 hours continuously. Also, their level of sleepiness was assessed using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) at the beginning, middle, and end of their first shift of handling operation. The results were analysed according to the duration at sea and deck officers rank. PSQI, KSS, PVT mean reaction times and lapses, and also Flanker's variables were higher among the chief and second officers who were present on board between 0-30 days. The state of officers who were present on board between 31 to 60 days was better than the officers with 0-30 and 61-90 days' duration at sea. In addition, the results show that sleep quality during tour of duty affects cognitive performance and sleepiness of officers during cargo handling operations. The paper concludes by discussing possible solutions for reducing fatigue and human error among seafarers.

Too anxious to control: the relation between math anxiety and inhibitory control processes

Based on the attentional control theory, math anxiety has been explained in terms of impaired inhibition, a key cognitive control function associated with the central executive. Inhibition allows us to suppress task-irrelevant interference when needed. Inspired by the Dual Mechanisms of Control theory, the current study aimed to disentangle the effect of math anxiety on two cognitive control aspects that can be identified in inhibition. Reactive control occurs after interference is detected and is mostly used in a context where interference is scarce. Proactive control is used to prevent and anticipate interference before it occurs and is preferred in contexts where interference is frequent. We used an arrow flanker task where the proportion of interference was manipulated to stimulate the use of a reactive or proactive control strategy. The results showed that response times on trials containing interference increased with math anxiety, but only in a reactive task context. In a proactive task context response times were not influenced by math anxiety. Our results suggest that math anxiety impairs reactive control. We hypothesize that this finding can be explained by a higher state of distractibility, triggered both by the reactive context and by math anxiety.

The effects of anxiety, depressive, and obsessive-compulsive subclinical symptoms on performance monitoring

Dysfunctional performance monitoring has been proposed as a potential neurocognitive biomarker of various internalising psychopathological symptoms, such as anxiety, depressive, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Given the overlapping neurophysiological findings and high rates of comorbidity amongst these internalising symptoms, an important research gap pertains to the specificity of performance monitoring to each of these symptoms. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of anxiety, depressive, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms on performance monitoring in healthy adults. The sample consisted of 50 participants, with ages ranging from 18 to 33 years (M = 22.82, SD = 3.84). The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 and the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised were administered to assess the various internalising symptoms. An arrow flanker task was administered to elicit error responses whilst electrophysiological data were recorded from the scalp. Performance monitoring was indexed by the error-related negativity and correct response negativity. Bivariate correlations revealed that the three internalising symptoms were not associated with error-related negativity or correct response negativity amplitudes. However, a regression model revealed that greater levels of anxiety symptoms were uniquely associated with larger error-related negativity amplitude after controlling for depressive symptoms. In addition, greater levels of depressive symptoms were uniquely associated with smaller error-related negativity amplitude. Another regression model revealed that greater levels of depressive symptoms were uniquely associated with smaller correct response negativity amplitude after controlling for anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that performance monitoring differentially associates with anxiety and depressive symptoms amongst healthy adults, providing some evidence of specificity for each respective symptoms.