title: Performance and ERP components in the equiprobable go/no-go task: Inhibition in children.
abstract: The equiprobable go/no-go task lacks the dominant go imperative found in the usual go/no-go task, and hence we previously regarded it as involving little inhibition. However, children have relative difficulty with this task, and demonstrate large frontal no-go N2s. We investigated whether this child N2 plays an inhibitory role, using performance measures to illuminate the link between N2 and inhibition. Forty children aged 8 to 13 were presented with four stimulus blocks each containing 75 go and 75 no-go tone stimuli in random order. A temporal PCA with unrestricted varimax rotation quantified the mean go and no-go ERP component amplitudes. Most identified components were differentially enhanced to go or no-go as in adults, supporting a previously proposed differential processing schema. Between subjects, larger frontocentral no-go N2bs were associated with fewer commission errors. Hence, the no-go N2b in this paradigm can be interpreted as an individual marker of inhibition in children.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Psychophysics, Psychophysiology, and Psychopharmacology, Brain & Behaviour Research Institute, and School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.affiliation: Centre for Psychophysics, Psychophysiology, and Psychopharmacology, Brain & Behaviour Research Institute, and School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
authors.forename: Frances M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: De Blasio
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Children; ERPs; Equiprobable go/no-go paradigm; Inhibition; Performance