An electrophysiological study of the insertion of overt response choice.
Using electrophysiological measures, the authors studied changes in prestimulus state, stimulus identification, and response-related processing when, in a go/no-go task, forced choice between 2 overt go responses was inserted. The authors observed decreased prestimulus motor preparation (electromyogram), no change in stimulus identification time (selection negativity), a minor increase in response selection time (lateralized readiness potential), a large increase in response preparation time (lateralized readiness potential), a minor effect on response execution time (electromyogram), and a decrease in the activation of a response-inhibition process on no-go trials (frontal event-related potential). The existence of the response-inhibition process was verified by the presence of inverted lateralized readiness potentials on no-go trials. Pure insertion of response choice in a task seems impossible because the choice between activation and inhibition (go/no-go) always seems already present.
Smid
H G
HG
Department of Psychiatry, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. h.g.o.m.smid@med.rug.nl
Fiedler
R
R
Heinze
H J
HJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D011601:Psychophysics / Q000379:methods; D011897:Random Allocation; D011930:Reaction Time; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*