Electrophysiological dynamics reveal distinct processing of stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response conflicts.
The present study examined electroencephalogram profiles on a novel stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) task in order to elucidate the distinct brain mechanisms of stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (S-R) conflict processing. The results showed that the SRC effects on reaction times (RTs) and N2 amplitudes were additive when both S-S and S-R conflicts existed. We also observed that, for both RTs and N2 amplitudes, the conflict adaptation effects-the reduced SRC effect following an incongruent trial versus a congruent trial-were present only when two consecutive trials involved the same type of conflict. Time-frequency analysis revealed that both S-S and S-R conflicts modulated power in the theta band, whereas S-S conflict additionally modulated power in the alpha and beta bands. In summary, our findings provide insight into the domain-specific conflict processing and the modular organization of cognitive control.
Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Qi
Q
Li
Kai
K
Wang
Weizhi
W
Nan
Ya
Y
Zheng
Haiyan
H
Wu
Hongbin
H
Wang
Xun
X
Liu
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Conflict adaptation; N2; Stimulus-response compatibility; Theta band