No-go Task Research Articles

Effect of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Inhibition of Motor Response Based on Correlation Analysis

In this paper, the effects of acute moderate intensity aerobic exercise on inhibition ability of college students were investigated from different aspects, such as behavioral performance, physiological response, and cognitive processing mode of brain. In this paper, college students were selected as the research object, and the content of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in blood was recorded and analyzed after moderate intensity aerobic exercise or reading intervention at the same time. In this paper, we completed the behavioral response and brain activity of the adapted go / NoGo task. After acute moderate intensity aerobic exercise, the correct rate of behavior inhibition of college students increased. The content of BDNF increased, and Nogo-N2 and NoGo-P3, which represent the inhibition ability, had obvious effect. Acute moderate intensity aerobic exercise can effectively promote the inhibition ability of college students, and its mechanism may lie in the rapid recognition of inhibition signals and the allocation of cognitive resources, as well as more peripheral BDNF circulation.

Acute Aerobic Exercise Ameliorates Cravings and Inhibitory Control in Heroin Addicts: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials and Frequency Bands.

ObjectiveAerobic exercise is considered a potential adjunctive treatment for heroin addicts, but little is known about its mechanisms. Less severe cravings and greater inhibitory control have been associated with reduced substance use. The aim of the current study was to determine the effects, as measured by behavioral and neuroelectric measurements, of acute aerobic exercise on heroin cravings and inhibitory control induced by heroin-related conditions among heroin addicts.DesignThe present study used a randomized controlled design.MethodsSixty male heroin addicts who met the DSM-V criteria were recruited from the Isolated Detoxification Center in China and randomly assigned to one of two groups; one group completed a 20-min bout of acute stationary cycle exercise with vigorous intensity (70–80% of maximum heart rate, exercise group), and the other group rested (control group). The self-reported heroin craving levels and inhibitory control outcomes (measured by a heroin-related Go/No-Go task) were assessed pre- and post-exercise.ResultsThe heroin craving levels in the exercise group were significantly attenuated during, immediately following, and 40 min after vigorous exercise compared with before exercise; moreover, during exercise, a smaller craving was observed in the exercise group than in the control group. Acute exercise also facilitated inhibition performance in the No-Go task. After exercise, the participants’ accuracy, the N2d amplitudes, and the theta two band spectral power during the No-Go conditions were higher in the exercise group than in the control group. Interestingly, significant correlations between the changes in these sensitive measurements and the changes in cravings were observed.ConclusionsThis is the first empirical study to demonstrate that aerobic exercise may be efficacious for reducing heroin cravings and promoting inhibitory control among heroin addicts.

Response Activation and Inhibition in Patients With Prolactinomas: An Electrophysiological Study.

Impairment of executive function has been reported in patients with prolactinomas. However, few studies have investigated the electrophysiological mechanisms of response activation and response inhibition in these patients. In this study, we employ an event-related potentials (ERPs) technique to quantitatively assess response activation and inhibition before and after the surgical treatment of prolactinomas. A 64-electrode electroencephalogram (EEG) skullcap was used to record the brain activity in 20 pre-operative patients, 20 follow-up post-operative patients, and 20 healthy controls (HCs) while performing the visual Go/Nogo task. As expected, we identified P300 across all study populations that could reflect response activation and inhibition. Across the three groups, the Nogo stimuli evoked larger frontal-central P300 than the Go stimuli did. In contrast, the Go trials elicited larger parietal P300 than the Nogo trials did. The peak latency of P300 was significantly delayed in both the pre-operative and the post-operative groups compared to the HCs. The amplitude of P300 in both the Go and the Nogo conditions was significantly decreased in the pre-operative patients compared with that of the HCs. At 6 months post-operatively, the prolactinoma patients showed an increase in amplitude of P300 during both the Go and the Nogo tasks. These findings indicate that the prolactinoma patients suffer from deficits in response activation and inhibition, which could be improved by surgical treatment.

Excess Body Mass Attenuates The Effects Of Acute Exercise On Preadolescent Brain Function And Cognition

PURPOSE: This study investigated the transient effects of an acute bout of aerobic exercise and excess body mass on cognitive and brain function in preadolescent children. METHODS: Thirty-nine children (8-10yrs; 16 females) completed baseline and demographic questionnaires, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and VO2max tests. Children were randomly allocated into a within-subjects crossover intervention design including 20-minutes of restful reading and 20-minutes of treadmill walking. Children completed post-intervention cognitive tasks that tap inhibition (Go-NoGo, flanker) with EEG (P3-ERP), and standardized tests of academic achievement in reading and math. SUMMARY OF RESULTS: Following the treadmill walking intervention, children of normal weight (NW) demonstrated improved response accuracy (p≤0.05), shorter reaction times (p≤0.05), and larger P3-ERP amplitudes (p≤0.05) during the Go task, relative to children with obesity (OB). Additionally, after the walking intervention, NW children demonstrated a trend for larger P3 amplitude (p=0.068) during the NoGo task. NW children also demonstrated shorter reaction times (p=.041), and reduced perceptual interference (p=0.039) compared to OB children during the flanker task. Lastly, NW children demonstrated improved performance on academic achievement tests of reading and math after the walking intervention, compared to OB children (p≤0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that the beneficial effects following an acute bout of aerobic exercise on cognitive and brain function may be attenuated in children with obesity. These results provide evidence indicating that neuroelectric and behavioural indices of attention, inhibition, and academic achievement are influenced by aerobic exercise and body mass in children. Given that childhood obesity is a public health concern with an array of health complications, these results have important implications for the physical and cognitive health of children. Grant Funding: Supported by NIH Grant R01 HD094054

Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation of left and right inferior frontal gyrus on creative divergent thinking are moderated by changes in inhibition control

Divergent thinking (DT) as one component of creativity is the ability to search for multiple solutions to a single problem and is reliably tested with the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). DT depends on activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), a prefrontal region that has also been associated with inhibitory control (IC). Experimentally manipulating IC through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) led to alterations in DT. Here, we aimed at further examining such potential mediating effects of IC on DT (measured as flexibility, fluency, and originality in the AUT) by modulating IC tDCS. Participants received either cathodal tDCS (c-tDCS) of the left IFG coupled with anodal tDCS (a-tDCS) of the right IFG (L−R + ; N = 19), or the opposite treatment (L + R−; N = 21). We hypothesized that L + R− stimulation would enhance IC assessed with the Go NoGo task (GNGT), and that facilitated IC would result in lower creativity scores. The reversed stimulation arrangement (i.e., L− R +) should result in higher creativity scores. We found that tDCS only affected the originality component of the AUT but not flexibility or fluency. We also found no effects on IC, and thus, the mediation effect of IC could not be confirmed. However, we observed a moderation effect: inhibition of left and facilitation of right IFG (L−R +) resulted in enhanced flexibility and originality scores, only when IC performance was also improved. We conclude that inducing a right-to-left gradient in IFG activity by tDCS is efficient in enhancing DT, but only under conditions where tDCS is sufficient to alter IC performance as well.

Cognitive responses to urban environments: behavioral responses in lab and field conditions

Urban design context continually influences cognition and behavior and shapes human responses for pedestrians. Researchers have studied established the role of context well (Sussman and Hollander 2015; Robinson and Pallasmaa 2015; Zeisel et al. 2003; Wells et al. 2007), but less is known about how variations in the built environment impact behavior performance. The book, Cognitive Architecture: Designing for How We Respond to the Built Environment (Sussman and Hollander 2015), argues that a set of four architectural principles might explain impacts on human mental states. This study uses those four principles to provide a framework to empirically test the relationship between variations in the built environment and behavior performance using a go–no-go task. The findings suggest that context matters and the paper offers key implications for urban design theory and practice.

Parkinsonism and subthalamic deep brain stimulation dysregulate behavioral motivation in a rodent model

BackgroundApathy and impulsivity constitute opposite poles of a behavioral motivation spectrum often disrupted by both the symptoms and therapies for Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Upwards of 70% of PD patients experience symptoms of apathy, frequently unresolved or worsened by deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Worse, more than half of patients receiving DBS for PD experience new-onset impulse control disorders of varying severity following therapy initiation. While these symptoms and side-effects have been widely reported in clinical studies, they are largely unexplored in animal models. MethodsWe applied high-frequency DBS in a 6-OHDA hemiparkinsonian rat model. We trained rats on a series of go/stop and go/no-go behavioral paradigms and examined how parkinsonism and DBS modulated task responses. ResultsSTN DBS in healthy rodents drove impulsive behavior in the form of stop and no-go task failure, impulsive reward seeking, and noninstructed task attempts. While trained rats without DBS only tended to fail stop and no-go cues very shortly after the cue, DBS led to failures at significantly later time points. Hemiparkinsonism slowed response times and reduced response rates, not alleviated by effective DBS. InterpretationsPD interrupts neural signaling responsible for healthy action selection, not restored by DBS. PD may be associated with a dearth of action commands, manifesting as apathy. Conversely, effective DBS may bias the system toward the impulsive end of the behavioral motivation spectrum without restoring behaviorally reasonable actions, mis-weighting reward-based action selection and manifesting as impulsivity, aided by DBS interfering with stop signaling.

Comparing the neuropsychological functions in obese and normal people

Background: Obesity is a chronic heterogeneous disorder causing mental health problems and disorders. This study was aimed at comparing the neuropsychological functions between the obese and normal people. Methods: This study was a descriptive and causal-comparative study conducted on obese and normal people between January and June of 2020. Participants consisted of 100 people (50 obese and 50 normal people) referred to Arian and Saremi clinics in Mashhad. Purposive sampling method was used and the participants were divided into two groups. The instrument was Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) and Go / No-Go Task. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: The results of the WCST showed that there were no significant differences between the obese and normal people in the variables of neuropsychological functions (P>0.05). Likewise, based on the Go / No-Go homework test, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in the variables of neuropsychological functions (P>0.05). Conclusion: The finding showed that there was no difference between neuropsychological functions of the obese and normal people. It can be argued that obesity cannot affect neuropsychological functions.

Autonomic Nervous System Is Related to Inhibitory and Control Function Through Functional Inter-Region Connectivities of OFC in Major Depression.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of interactions between autonomic nervous system (ANS) and cognitive function in Major depression (MD) with Magnetoencephalography (MEG) measurements.MethodsParticipants with MD (n = 20), and Health controls (HCs, n = 18) were completed MEG measurements during the performance of a go/no-go task. Heart rate variability (HRV) indices (SDANN, and RMSSD) were derived from the raw MEG data. The correlation analysis of the HRV and functional connectivities in different brain regions was conducted by Pearson’s r in two groups.ResultsThe go/no-go task performances of HCs were better than MD patients; HRV indices were lower in the MD group. Under the no-go task, a brain MEG functional connectivity analysis based on the seed regions of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) displayed increased functional inter-region connectivity networks of OFC in MD group. HRV indices were correlated with different functional inter-region connectivity networks of OFC in two groups, respectively.ConclusionANS is related to inhibitory and control function through functional inter-region connectivity networks of OFC in MD. These findings have important implications for the understanding pathophysiology of MD, and MEG may provide an image-guided tool for interventions.

Multi-domain Features of the Non-phase-locked Component of Interest Extracted from ERP Data by Tensor Decomposition

The waveform in the time domain, spectrum in the frequency domain, and topography in the space domain of component(s) of interest are the fundamental indices in neuroscience research. Despite the application of time–frequency analysis (TFA) to extract the temporal and spectral characteristics of non-phase-locked component (NPLC) of interest simultaneously, the statistical results are not always expectedly satisfying, in that the spatial information is not considered. Complex Morlet wavelet transform is widely applied to TFA of event-related-potential (ERP) data, and mother wavelet (which should be firstly defined by center frequency and bandwidth (CFBW) before using the method to TFA of ERP data) influences the time–frequency results. In this study, an optimal set of CFBW was firstly selected from the number sets of CFBW, to further analyze for TFA of the ERP data in a cognitive experiment paradigm of emotion (Anger and Neutral) and task (Go and Nogo). Then tensor decomposition algorithm was introduced to investigate the NPLC of interest from the fourth-order tensor. Compared with the TFA results which only revealed a significant difference between Go and Nogo task condition, the tensor-based analysis showed significant interaction effect between emotion and task. Moreover, significant differences were found in both emotion and task conditions through tensor decomposition. In addition, the statistical results of TFA would be affected by the selected region of interest (ROI), whereas those of the proposed method were not subject to ROI. Hence, this study demonstrated that tensor decomposition method was effective in extracting NPLC, by considering spatial information simultaneously as the potential to explore the brain mechanisms related to experimental design.

More similitudes than differences between bilinguals and monolinguals on speeded and demand-varying executive tasks

ABSTRACT We tested the presence and nature of bilingual advantage in early bilinguals, as compared to a sample of monolinguals with a similar social and cultural background. Participants performed three non-linguistic flanker tasks with increasing demands (simple < no-go < n-back), each designed to tap into specific executive control components. Results showed that Catalan–Spanish bilinguals were more accurate overall, independent of task demands. However, we did not find evidence of better general performance regarding reaction times in bilinguals (BEPA hypothesis) nor a better interference suppression (BICA hypothesis), response inhibition or updating of information regardless of task demands. Besides, the current data revealed that task demands modulated the magnitude of the interference effect in both reaction times and accuracy. Moreover, Spanish monolinguals showed a reduced interference effect in terms of response times in the no-go task. Results are discussed in relation to distinct group response strategies and differential allocation of executive resources.

Effects of 12-week avocado consumption on cognitive function among adults with overweight and obesity

ObjectivesExcess adiposity increases risk for cognitive impairment. Consumption of avocado, a highly bioavailable source of the xanthophyll lutein, has been shown to improve retinal lutein accumulation and cognitive function. Thus, we evaluated the influence of avocado consumption on cognitive function and lutein status among adults with overweight and obesity using a randomized-controlled trial with matching design for pertinent study outcomes. MethodsA cohort of 84 adults (25–45 years, 31 males) were randomized to a treatment group (N = 47) that received a 12-week daily meal with fresh Hass avocado or a control group (N = 37) that received an isocaloric meal (clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02740439). Serum lutein and macular pigment optical density (MPOD) were used to assess xanthophyll status. Attention and inhibition were assessed using the Flanker, Oddball and Nogo tasks with accompanying electroencephalographic (EEG) recording. ResultsParticipants in the treatment group exhibited improvements in serum lutein and accuracy in the Flanker task. However, there were no relationships between performance and changes in lutein status, nor neuroelectric variables. No significant changes in MPOD were observed. ConclusionDaily avocado intake over 12 weeks, after controlling for covariates, improved attentional inhibition and increased serum lutein concentrations among adults with overweight and obesity. However, the cognitive benefits were independent of changes in lutein concentrations. Additional work is necessary to determine non-carotenoid, or carotenoid interactive, mechanisms by which avocados may influence cognitive function.

P.672 Physical, physiological and biochemical parameters of adults with schizophrenia: Data from cognitive rehabilitation and training with exercise for schizophrenia study

Exercise training has been shown to improve learning and memory, and to protect against the negative impact of sleep deprivation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of seven weeks of moderate- and high-intensity interval exercise training on vigilance/sustained attention, inhibition processes and working memory during 40-h total sleep deprivation (TSD) in 16 healthy young men.The subjects were evaluated before (Baseline, BAS) and during TSD, and the day after a night of recovery sleep (Recovery, REC).Exercise training significantly decreased errors and increased speed assessed by the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) during TSD and REC while no difference was found in executive inhibition (Go–noGo task) and working memory (2-Back task) performances. The multiple sleep latency test results were higher during BAS and REC at Post-exercise training, and no difference occurred in subjective sleepiness and daytime microsleeps over the 40-h TSD. The PVT speed was positively correlated with maximal oxygen consumption and maximal aerobic power measured before entry in the in-laboratory TSD protocol, and stage 3 sleep duration measured during the first night in the in-laboratory TSD protocol (N-1). Exercise training effects on sleep were found during the night recovery with lower stage-3 sleep and higher rapid eye movement (REM) sleep durations. An exercise training effect was also found on free insulin-like growth factor I levels with lower levels during TSD at Post-exercise training.In healthy young men, exercise training reduced sleep pressure at baseline and protected against sustained attention deficits induced by TSD with persistent effect after one night of recovery sleep. Nevertheless, exercise training was not effective in reducing deficits in executive inhibition and working memory induced by TSD.

Neurocognitive Correlates of Food-Related Response Inhibition in Overweight/Obese Adults.

Response inhibition is thought to play a critical role in the manifestation and maintenance of obesity. The study aimed to investigate the behavioral and neural correlates of food-related response inhibition in overweight/obese adults (OWs). In total, 23 normal-weight adults (NWs) and 21 OWs were recruited to investigate food-related response inhibition. Participants underwent food no-go and flower no-go tasks, during which event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The food no-go task was used to explore the food-related response inhibition, and the flower no-go task was used to explore the general response inhibition. P2, N2a, N2b, and P3 components were investigated. We found that even though OWs experienced more guilt than did NWs, OWs were preoccupied with food and lacked control over their eating (as measured by food-craving questionnaire-trait) compared with NWs (all ps < 0.05). ERP analyses showed that P2 amplitudes were significantly greater and N2a amplitudes were lower in OWs than in NWs in the two tasks; in addition, N2b amplitudes were lower and P3 amplitudes were greater in OWs than in NWs in the food no-go task. Moreover, body mass index was significantly related to food N2a, food N2b, and food P3. The findings indicate that OWs may be less efficient in conflict monitoring and may need more response inhibition resources to inhibit their automatic response to food-related stimuli. Further studies are needed to develop intervention strategies to enhance response inhibition in OWs.

Alcohol Hangover Slightly Impairs Response Selection but not Response Inhibition.

Alcohol hangover commonly occurs after an episode of heavy drinking. It has previously been demonstrated that acute high-dose alcohol intoxication reduces cognitive control, while automatic processes remain comparatively unaffected. However, it has remained unclear whether alcohol hangover, as a consequence of binge drinking, modulates the interplay between cognitive control and automaticity in a comparable way. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of alcohol hangover on controlled versus automatic response selection and inhibition. N = 34 healthy young men completed a Simon Nogo task, once sober and once hungover. Hangover symptoms were experimentally induced by a standardized administration of alcoholic drinks (with high congener content) on the night before the hangover appointment. We found no significant hangover effects, which suggests that alcohol hangover did not produce the same functional deficits as an acute high-dose intoxication. Yet still, add-on Bayesian analyses revealed that hangover slightly impaired response selection, but not response inhibition. This pattern of effects cannot be explained with the current knowledge on how ethanol and its metabolite acetaldehyde may modulate response selection and inhibition via the dopaminergic or GABAergic system.

Beneficial effects of exercise training on cognitive performances during total sleep deprivation in healthy subjects

ObjectiveExercise training has been shown to improve learning and memory, and to protect against the negative impact of sleep deprivation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of seven weeks of moderate- and high-intensity interval exercise training on vigilance/sustained attention, inhibition processes and working memory during 40-h total sleep deprivation (TSD) in 16 healthy young men. MethodsThe subjects were evaluated before (Baseline, BAS) and during TSD, and the day after a night of recovery sleep (Recovery, REC). ResultsExercise training significantly decreased errors and increased speed assessed by the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) during TSD and REC while no difference was found in executive inhibition (Go–noGo task) and working memory (2-Back task) performances. The multiple sleep latency test results were higher during BAS and REC at Post-exercise training, and no difference occurred in subjective sleepiness and daytime microsleeps over the 40-h TSD. The PVT speed was positively correlated with maximal oxygen consumption and maximal aerobic power measured before entry in the in-laboratory TSD protocol, and stage 3 sleep duration measured during the first night in the in-laboratory TSD protocol (N-1). Exercise training effects on sleep were found during the night recovery with lower stage-3 sleep and higher rapid eye movement (REM) sleep durations. An exercise training effect was also found on free insulin-like growth factor I levels with lower levels during TSD at Post-exercise training. ConclusionsIn healthy young men, exercise training reduced sleep pressure at baseline and protected against sustained attention deficits induced by TSD with persistent effect after one night of recovery sleep. Nevertheless, exercise training was not effective in reducing deficits in executive inhibition and working memory induced by TSD.

Systolic Blood Pressure Mediates the Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Inhibitory Control in Children

Increased body mass index (BMI) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) have been shown to be associated with poorer inhibitory cognitive control throughout childhood and impact children´s health. Further statistical procedures may help to understand the nature of relationship between these variables in children. PURPOSE: Here, we verify the mediation role of the SBP in the relationship between BMI and inhibitory control. METHODS: Twenty non-normotensive (NNT) children (age: 10.86 (10.18-10.98) years; 8 hypertensive stage I; 1 hypertensive stage II and 11 pre-hypertensive) were paired with 20 normotensive (NT) children (age: 10.40 (9.86 – 10.69) years) by cardiorespiratory fitness, BMI, somatic maturation, scholar performance and age. They differed on SBP (NNT: 120.53±6.73 mmHg vs NT: 106.64±7.04 mmHg; p<0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (NNT: 75.83±8.81 mmHg vs NT: 64.80±4.94 mmHg; p<0.01). BP was calculated by the average of three measures with a two-minute interval between them. Inhibitory control was measured by a food specific inhibitory Go/ No-go task. The Go stimuli were presented as office and bathroom pictures, whereas the No-go (inhibition) stimuli were food and toys images. Performance was evaluated based on number of errors during No-go stimuli. T-tests were applied to verify differences between independent variables and cognitive performance. Thereafter, a four step mediation was applied using SBP as a mediator of the relation between BMI and number of errors. RESULTS: NNT group had higher number of errors compared to NT one (4.14 ± 0.92 vs. 2.43 ± 0.54; p = 0.002). In addition, a relationship between BMI and number of errors (β = 0.38, SE = 0.16, p=0.02) was found. However, when considering SBP, this relationship was no longer statistically significant (β = 0.24, SE = 0.16, p = 0.13). The bootstrapped unstandardized indirect effect was 0.13 and the 95% confidence interval ranged from 0.02 to 0.35. This indicates SBP as a full mediation of the relation between BMI and inhibitory control. CONCLUSION: We confirm the relationship between body mass index and cognitive inhibitory control in children and for the first time present systolic blood pressure as a mediating mechanism.

ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NEUROFEEDBACK IN AMELIORATING CHRONIC POST-RAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

The aim of our research was to evaluate the effectiveness of neurofeedback in reducing the symptoms of chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a patient who had developed the syndrome following a recurrence of sphenoid wing meningioma (SOM). EEG spectra and event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to construct an individual neurofeedback protocol and to provide objective monitoring of treatment efficacy. The patient, a 34-year-old female, was diagnosed with a sphenoid wing meningioma (SOM), which had been successfully operated. Three years later, however, the SOM had overgrown at the optic foramen and extended into the optic canal, and the patient had developed blurred vision. She was repeatedly operated, and recovered well. However, due to the recurrence she developed flashbacks, anxiety and sleep difficulties, such that she was unable to continue working in her profession. The symptoms had been occurring for 4 months. ERPs in a cued NOGO task, along with EEG spectra in the resting state and during task performance were used to assess brain functioning, providing the basis for a neurofeedback protocol. Twenty sessions of individually tailored neurofeedback were performed. The patient experienced a reduction of symptoms, accompanied by normalization of ERPs parameters. The results obtained in this case point to the possible benefits of individually tailored neurofeedback protocols in the treatment of PTSD.

Disentangling specific inhibitory versus general decision-making processes during sleep deprivation using a Go/NoGo ERP paradigm

This study used a Go/NoGo ERP paradigm in which Go and NoGo stimuli occurred rarely and equally often in an attempt to determine if sleep deprivation has a general effect on decision-making or a more specific effect on inhibition. A Go/NoGo task was administered six times to eleven participants during 36 h of sleep deprivation and once again post recovery sleep. In the Go condition, the participant was asked to respond to the rare stimulus. In the separate NoGo condition, the participant was asked to withhold the response to the rare stimulus. ERPs were recorded to the rare stimuli. The NoGo P3 should be attenuated if sleep loss mainly affects inhibitory processes. Both Go and NoGo P3 should be attenuated if sleep loss affects general detection processes. During sleep loss, accuracy decreased for both tasks. RT also gradually increased for the Go task. Performance during the NoGo task was more complex and was better accounted by a speed-accuracy trade-off. Overall, findings indicate that sleep deprivation did not have specific effects on inhibition. However, the amplitude of the Go P3 occurred as early as 12 h after waking and might reflect an effect of task repetition rather than true sleep deprivation. In contrast, the NoGo P3 amplitude was not significantly reduced until after 24 and 36 h of wakefulness, suggesting a true sleep deprivation effect. Both Go and NoGo P3 post recovery sleep did not return to baseline levels, possibly due to residual sleep inertia.

To prepare or not to prepare? When preparation of a response in Task 2 induces extra performance costs in Task 1.

In dual tasking, the no-go backward crosstalk effect (BCE) means that processing of Task 1 takes longer when Task 2 does not require a response (no-go trial) than when it requires a response (go trial). Thus, contrary to the usual observation, giving two successive responses counterintuitively reduces instead of increases performance costs for Task 1. Results from recent studies are in line with the notion that the no-go BCE reflects response inhibition, which is required to overcome an already prepared go response in Task 2, but which also spills over to motor execution in Task 1. No direct test of this hypothesis, however, has been carried out so far, and hence the present study was designed to fill this gap. The result of this study with n = 48 participants revealed that a no-go Task 2 impeded Task 1 performance when preparation of the Task 2 response was encouraged, but facilitated Task 1 performance when preparation of the Task 2 response was not encouraged.