Journal article
Does the stop-signal P3 reflect inhibitory control?
Cortex, Vol.183, pp.232-250
12/21/2024
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.12.005
PMCID: PMC11839379
PMID: 39754857
Abstract
The ability to stop already-initiated actions is paramount to adaptive behavior. In psychology and neuroscience alike, action-stopping is a popular model behavior to probe inhibitory control – the underlying cognitive control process that is purportedly vital to regulating thoughts and actions. Starting with seminal work in the 1990s, the frontocentral stop-signal P3 – an event-related potential derived from scalp EEG – has been proposed as a neurophysiological index of inhibitory control during action-stopping. However, this association has been challenged repeatedly over recent years. Here, we perform a critical review of both the evidence in support of the association between this P3 index and inhibitory control, as well as its documented criticisms. We first comprehensively review literature from the past three decades that suggested a link between stop-signal P3 and inhibitory control. Second, we then replicate the key empirical patterns reported in that body of literature in a uniquely large stop-signal task EEG dataset (N = 255). Third, we then examine the criticisms raised against the view of P3 as an index of inhibitory control and evaluate the evidence supporting these arguments. Finally, we present an updated view of the process(es) reflected in the stop-signal P3. Specifically, we propose that the stop-signal P3 indexes a specific, selective inhibitory control process that critically contributes to action-stopping. This view is motivated by recent two-stage models of inhibitory control and emerging empirical data. Together, we hope to clarify the process(es) reflected in the stop-signal P3 and resolve the ongoing debates regarding its utility as an index of inhibitory control during action-stopping.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Does the stop-signal P3 reflect inhibitory control?
- Creators
- Mario Hervault - University of IowaCheol Soh - University of IowaJan R. Wessel - University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Cortex, Vol.183, pp.232-250
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.12.005
- PMID
- 39754857
- PMCID
- PMC11839379
- NLM abbreviation
- Cortex
- ISSN
- 0010-9452
- eISSN
- 1973-8102
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd; PARIS
- Grant note
- U.S. National Science Foundation: 1752355 National Institutes of Health: R01 NS117753
This work was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Grant 1752355 to J.R.W.; and National Institutes of Health Grant R01 NS117753 to J.R.W.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/21/2024
- Academic Unit
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984770789202771
Metrics
5 Record Views