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Response inhibition is a crucial component of executive control. Although mainly studied in upper limb tasks, it is fully implicated in gait initiation. Here, we assessed the influence of proactive and reactive inhibitory control during gait initiation in healthy adult participants. For this purpose, we measured kinematics and electroencephalography (EEG) activity (event‐related potential [ERP] and time‐frequency data) during a modified Go/NoGo gait initiation task in 23 healthy adults. The task comprised Go‐certain, Go‐uncertain, and NoGo conditions. Each trial included preparatory and imperative stimuli. Our results showed that go‐uncertainty resulted in delayed reaction time, without any difference for the other parameters of gait initiation. Proactive inhibition, that is, Go uncertain versus Go certain conditions, influenced EEG activity as soon as the preparatory stimulus. Moreover, both proactive and reactive inhibition influenced the amplitude of the ERPs (central P1, occipito‐parietal N1, and N2/P3) and theta and alpha/low beta band activities in response to the imperative—Go‐uncertain versus Go‐certain and NoGo versus Go‐uncertain—stimuli. These findings demonstrate that the uncertainty context; induced proactive inhibition, as reflected in delayed gait initiation. Proactive and reactive inhibition elicited extended and overlapping modulations of ERP and time‐frequency activities. This study shows the protracted influence of inhibitory control in gait initiation. We studied proactive and reactive inhibition in a Go/NoGo gait initiation task manipulating the uncertainty context of Go trials. Proactive inhibition (Go‐uncertain vs. ‐certain) induced delayed onset of anticipatory postural adjustments of gait. We showed intricated and extended electroencephalography signatures of proactive and reactive inhibition in both the event‐related potentials and time‐frequency domains, uncovering a tight interplay between the release of proactive inhibition, the setting of reactive inhibition, action selection, and gait initiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hayling Completion Sentence Test (HSCT) is dedicated to assess inhibition of the dominant response and includes two conditions, an automatic condition in which the participants are asked to complete sentences properly and an inhibition condition in which the participants were asked to produce a word completely unrelated to the sentence. The aim of our study was 1) to adapt, 2) to evaluate the psychometric properties and 3) to standardize the HSCT into a French-school-aged pediatric population. We developed the Child-Hayling Test, a child adaptation of the adult French version of the HSCT. The reliability and validity of the Child-Hayling Test were then evaluated in a sample of 134 children aged 6–11 years. In the inhibition condition, children had lower response latency, as they get older. No effect of gender was observed. Reliability indices were low to moderate. Concerning the convergent and divergent validity, response latencies in the Child-Hayling Test correlated with latency scores in the Barre-Joe inhibition test, whereas the Child-Hayling Test scores were not related to children’s lexical abilities. The Child-Hayling Test was then administered to 393 typically developing 6- to 11-year-old children. Normative data were calculated in the inhibition condition using a regression-based approach. Regression equations to calculate Z scores are provided for clinical use. In addition, we proposed a clear guideline on how to score children’s inhibition responses. The Child-Hayling Test provides a useful tool for assessing prepotent response inhibition in children and can be recommended for use in clinical research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It seems that children's anxiety is affected by parental factors and the child's personality characteristics. The objective of this study was to develop a model of child anxiety based on maternal overprotection, anxious beliefs, and the mediating role of child inhibition in clients referred to the Urmia Police Force Counseling Center, Urmia, Iran. Methods: In this modeling type of correlational study, among the clients referring to the Urmia Police Force Counseling Center in 2021-2022, 218 mothers with children aged 2 to 8 years were selected using a convenience sampling method. Mothers completed the Roth Manual of Mother-Child Relationship Evaluation (MCRE), Spence et al. Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS), Francis and Chorpita Parental Beliefs about Anxiety Questionnaire (PBA-Q), and Bishop et al. Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire (BIQ). The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS [mean, standard deviation (SD), and correlation] and Amos software using the path analysis method. Results: A significant positive relationship was found between maternal overprotection (r = 0.49, P < 0.001), anxious beliefs (r = 0.54, P < 0.001), child inhibition (r = 0.48, P < 0.001), and child anxiety. Moreover, overprotection had an indirect and positive effect (p = 0.41, P < 0.02) on the child's anxiety given the mediating role of the child's inhibition (p = 0.073, P < 0.01). Anxious beliefs directly (p = 0.41, P < 0.01), indirectly, and positively affected a child's anxiety given the mediating role of the child's inhibition (p = 0.098, P < 0.001). It should be noted that the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) index was 0.09 and the comparative fit index (CFI) was 0.987, which were acceptable. Conclusion: Based on the results, the mother's cognitive and behavioral characteristics can affect anxiety through the child's behavioral inhibition characteristic. In addition to parents' cognitive and behavioral characteristics, the child's temperament and parents' response based on the children's temperament should be also considered in the diagnosis and treatment of children's anxiety disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience a host of social problems, in addition to significant impairments in behavioral inhibition, working memory, and self-control. Behavioral inhibition and working memory difficulties have been linked with social functioning deficits, but to date, most studies have examined these neurocognitive problems either in isolation or as an aggregate measure in relation to social problems, and none has considered the role of self-control. Thus, it remains unclear whether all of these executive functions are linked with social problems or if the link can be more parsimoniously explained by construct overlap. Fifty-eight children with ADHD and 63 typically developing (TD) children completed tests assessing self-control, behavioral inhibition, and working memory; parents and teachers rated children's social functioning. Examination of potential indirect effects with the bootstrapping procedure indicated that working memory mediated the relation between group membership (ADHD, TD) and child social functioning based on teacher but not parent ratings. Behavioral inhibition and self-control did not have direct relations with either parent- or teacher-rated social functioning. These findings point to important differences regarding how executive functioning difficulties manifest at school compared to home, as well as the specific executive function components that predict ADHD-related social difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive impairments affect functional capacity in individuals with schizophrenia (SZH), but their neural basis remains unclear. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the Stroop Task (SCWT), are paradigmatic tests which have been used extensively for examining executive function in SZH. However, few studies have explored how deficits on these tasks link to brain volume differences commonly seen in SZH. Here, for the first time, we tested associations between FreeSurfer-derived frontal brain volumes and performance on both WCST and SCWT, in a well-matched sample of 57 SZH and 32 control subjects. We also explored whether these associations were dissociable from links to symptom severity in SZH. Results revealed correlations between volumes and task performance which were unique to SZH. In SZH only, volumes of right middle frontal regions correlated with both WCST and Stroop performance: correlation coefficients were significantly different to those present in the control group, highlighting their specificity to the patient group. In the Stroop task, superior frontal regions also showed associations with Stroop interference scores which were unique to SZH. These findings provide important detail around how deficits on these two paradigmatic executive function tasks link to brain structural differences in SZH. Results align with converging evidence suggesting that neuropathology within right middle frontal regions (BA9 and BA46) might be of particular import in SZH. No volumetric associations with symptom severity were found, supporting the notion that the structural abnormalities underpinning cognitive deficits in SZH differ from those associated with symptomatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Exciting left DLPFC activity with high frequency and inhibiting right DLPFC with low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has shown antidepressant effects in major depressive disorder (MDD) and executive functions. However, few studies have directly compared unilateral and bilateral protocols. Methods: Forty-seven individuals with treatment-resistant MDD underwent 10 sessions of rTMS over left DLPFC (20 Hz), bilateral DLPFC (left 20 Hz, right 1 Hz), or sham stimulation. Outcomes were depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II), visual-spatialmemory (Corsi Block Test), response inhibition (Go/No-Go task), and cognitive flexibility (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) assessed before and after treatment. Results: Both unilateral and bilateral rTMS significantly reduced depression levels versus sham controls based on BDI-II scores. While bilateral stimulation did not improve Corsi Test performance, unilateral protocol enhanced visual-spatial memory. On the Go/No-Go task, accuracy was higher in both active stimulation groups compared to sham, with no response time differences. Neither unilateral nor bilateral rTMS had significant effects on cognitive flexibility per the WCST. Conclusions: Despite comparable antidepressant effects, unilateral stimulation had some cognitive advantages over bilateral rTMS, potentially due to greater left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex excitation. Further research on parameter optimization is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous work has indicated that individual differences in cognitive performance can be predicted by characteristics of resting state oscillations, such as individual peak alpha frequency (IAF). Although IAF has previously been correlated with cognitive functions, such as memory, attention, or mental speed, its link to cognitive conflict processing remains unexplored. The current work investigated the relationship between IAF and inhibitory cognitive control in two well‐established conflict tasks, Stroop and Navon task, while also controlling for alpha power, theta power, and the 1/f offset of aperiodic broadband activity. In Bayesian analyses on a large sample of 127 healthy participants, we found substantial evidence against the assumption that IAF predicts individual abilities to spontaneously exert cognitive control. Similarly, our findings yielded substantial evidence against links between cognitive control and resting state power in the alpha and theta bands or between cognitive control and aperiodic 1/f offset. In sum, our results challenge frameworks suggesting that an individual's ability to spontaneously engage attentional control networks may be mirrored in resting state EEG characteristics. In the first work investigating the relationship between individual peak alpha frequency (IAF) and two classical conflict tasks (Stroop and Navon task), we demonstrate that individual differences in cognitive control are not related to IAF nor to other oscillatory or aperiodic aspects of the resting state EEG signal. We complement and challenge previous findings suggesting IAF as a neurophysiological indicator of general human performance functions and cognitive control specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the cognitive flexibility (CF) of preschool children has been extensively studied, the development of CF in children around three years old is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the CF of three-year-olds in a stepwise rule-induction task (sRIT) comprising nine steps in which children are encouraged to switch attention to a new rule and then implicitly inhibit the old one. A pair of boxes was displayed at each step, and children aged 2.5 to 3.5 years were asked to select the target. When children learned a rule (e.g., the shape rule), they were encouraged to switch rules through negative feedback. The results showed that most children (81.10%) passed at least one of the two sets of the sRIT, and children over the age of three years performed better than those under three years. Additionally, a positive correlation existed between rule switching and rule generalization, whereby the old rule was implicitly inhibited. These findings indicate that age three might be a milestone in the development of CF, and inhibitory control might play a vital role in rule switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive functioning (EF) is of major interest in the study of cognitive factors involved in obesity. Among EF, shifting is related to behavioral flexibility, and inhibition to the ability to refrain from impulsive behavior. A deficit in those two EF could predict individual difficulties to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Weak evidence of deficits in shifting and inhibition in individuals of higher Body Mass Index (BMI) have been observed. The objective was to clarify the relationship between inhibition and shifting regarding weight status group differences in healthy adults. Two neuropsychological tests from the Test of Attentional Performance (TAP) battery were used to measure EF performance of three groups of men and women: normal-weight (NW, n = 38), overweight (OW, n = 40) and obesity (OB, n = 37). The results show that individuals with higher BMI have lower inhibition capacities and that classically used weight status categories might not capture cognitive variability. No differences in shifting were observed concerning weight status nor BMI. This paper provides new insights on cognitive factors in obesity by presenting data from healthy individuals with overweight and obesity. The results support that assessing inhibition capacities might be of interest in a clinical setting for patients with difficulties to lose weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether girls and boys with ADHD show distinct impairments in components of cognitive control across multiple tasks (go/no-go, stop signal, and flanker) and performance metrics (response speed, variability, and errors). Method: A total of 300 children, ages 8 to 12 years with ADHD (n = 210, 58 girls) or typically developing (TD; n = 99, 37 girls), completed all tasks. Traditional response measures (e.g., mean and standard deviation of reaction time, inhibition errors, and stop signal reaction time) and ex-Gaussian modeling of reaction times (mu, sigma, and tau) were analyzed. Results: Girls showed intact response inhibition in the context of slower response speed, while boys made more inhibition errors and did not slow their response speed. Both girls and boys with ADHD showed higher response variability and poorer interference control than TD children. Conclusion: Girls and boys with ADHD show distinct impairments in cognitive control that may be important for understanding the pathophysiology of ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used with increasing frequency as a therapeutic tool to alleviate clinical symptoms of obsessive compulsive-disorder (OCD). However, little is known about the effects of tDCS on neurocognitive functioning among OCD patients. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature examining the effects of tDCS on specific neurocognitive functions in OCD. A literature search following PRISMA guidelines was conducted on the following databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Web of Science. The search yielded 4 results: one randomized, sham-controlled study (20 patients), one randomized, controlled, partial crossover trial (12 patients), one open-label study (5 patients), and one randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, parallel-group trial (37 patients). A total of 51 patients received active tDCS with some diversity in electrode montages targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the pre-supplementary motor area, or the orbitofrontal cortex. tDCS was associated with improved decision-making in study 1, enhanced attentional monitoring and response inhibition in study 2, improved executive and inhibitory control in study 3, and reduced attentional bias and improved response inhibition and working memory in study 4. Limitations of this review include its small sample, the absence of a sham group in half of the studies, and the heterogeneity in tDCS parameters. These preliminary results highlight the need for future testing in randomized, sham-controlled trials to examine whether and how tDCS induces relevant cognitive benefits in OCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Difficulties with inhibitory control have been identified in eating disorders (EDs) and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs; including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder), and there appear to be parallels between the expression of these impairments. It is theorised that impairments in inhibitory control within NDs may represent a unique vulnerability for eating disorders (EDs), and this same mechanism may contribute to poorer treatment outcomes. This review seeks to determine the state of the literature concerning the role of inhibitory control in the overlap of EDs and neurodivergence. Method: A scoping review was conducted to summarise extant research, and to identify gaps in the existing knowledge base. Scopus, Medline, PsycInfo, Embase, and ProQuest were systematically searched. Studies were included if the study measured traits of ADHD or autism, and symptoms of ED, and required participants to complete a performance task measure of inhibitory control. Where studies included a cohort with both an ND and ED, these results had to be reported separately from cohorts with a singular diagnosis. Studies were required to be published in English, within the last 10 years. Results: No studies explored the relationship between autism and EDs using behavioural measures of inhibitory control. Four studies exploring the relationship between ADHD and EDs using behavioural measures of inhibitory control met selection criteria. These studies showed a multifaceted relationship between these conditions, with differences emerging between domains of inhibitory control. ADHD symptoms predicted poorer performance on measures of response inhibition in a non-clinical sample; this was not replicated in clinical samples, nor was there a significant association with EDs. Both ADHD and ED symptoms are associated with poor performance on attentional control measures; where these diagnoses were combined, performance was worse than for those with a singular diagnosis of ADHD. This was not replicated when compared to those with only ED diagnoses. Conclusion: Impairments in attentional control may represent a unique vulnerability for the development of an ED and contribute to poor treatment outcomes. Further research is needed to explore the role of inhibitory control in EDs, ADHD and autism, including the use of both self-report and behavioural measures to capture the domains of inhibitory control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of response and semantic inhibition on scientific reasoning using fNIRS data from 30 students (15 male, 15 female). Utilizing Go/Nogo and Stroop-like tasks within a modified speeded-reasoning task, it was found that inhibition significantly influences scientific reasoning. Specifically, slower responses and lower accuracy on incongruent statements were linked to increased activity in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). The research shows that both DLPFC and pre-SMA are associated with overcoming misconceptions in scientific reasoning. The findings suggest that understanding inhibitory mechanisms can enhance educational strategies to improve critical thinking and scientific literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is accumulating evidence that distinct forms of domain-general inhibition underlie the selection of lexical candidates from among co-activated representations in single-word production. It is less clear whether similar control processes are engaged in the resolution of syntactic conflict in sentence production. This study assessed the relative contribution of three types of inhibitory control operating at different stages of information processing to syntactic interference resolution in an active-passive voice production task. Inhibition of response execution (the anti-saccade effect) and resolution of representational conflict (the flanker effect) were related to the occurrence of repairs and sentence onset latencies in passive voice trials. The results suggest not only that general-purpose mechanisms may be in place that resolve conflict regardless of whether it stems from syntactic or non-syntactic (non-verbal) representations, but also that they operate at dissociable processing stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Children with ADHD demonstrate difficulties on many different neuropsychological tests. However, it remains unclear whether this pattern reflects a large number of distinct deficits or a small number of deficit(s) that broadly impact test performance. The current study is among the first experiments to systematically manipulate demands on both working memory and inhibition, with implications for competing conceptual models of ADHD pathogenesis. Method: A clinically evaluated, carefully phenotyped sample of 110 children with ADHD, anxiety disorders, or co-occurring ADHD+anxiety (Mage=10.35, 44 girls; 69% White Not Hispanic/Latino) completed a counterbalanced, double dissociation experiment, with two tasks each per inhibition (low vs. high) x working memory (low vs. high) condition. Results: Bayesian and frequentist models converged in indicating that both manipulations successfully increased demands on their target executive function (BF10>5.33x108, p<.001). Importantly, occupying children's limited capacity working memory system produced slower response times and reduced accuracy on inhibition tasks (BF10>317.42, p<.001, d=0.67-1.53). It also appeared to differentially reduce inhibition (and non-inhibition) accuracy for children with ADHD relative to children with anxiety (BF10=2.03, p=.02, d=0.50). In contrast, there was strong evidence against models that view working memory deficits as secondary outcomes of underlying inhibition deficits in ADHD (BF01=18.52, p=.85). Discussion: This pattern indicates that working memory broadly affects children's ability to inhibit prepotent tendencies and maintain fast/accurate performance, and may explain the errors that children with ADHD make on inhibition tests. These findings are broadly consistent with models describing working memory as a causal mechanism that gives rise to secondary impairments. In contrast, these findings provide evidence against models that view disinhibition as a cause of working memory difficulties or view working memory as a non-causal correlate or epiphenomenon in ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance use disorders are characterized by inhibition deficits related to disrupted connectivity in white matter pathways, leading via interaction to difficulties in resisting substance use. By combining neuroimaging with smartphone‐based ecological momentary assessment (EMA), we questioned how biomarkers moderate inhibition deficits to predict use. Thus, we aimed to assess white matter integrity interaction with everyday inhibition deficits and related resting‐state network connectivity to identify multi‐dimensional predictors of substance use. Thirty‐eight patients treated for alcohol, cannabis or tobacco use disorder completed 1 week of EMA to report substance use five times and complete Stroop inhibition testing twice daily. Before EMA tracking, participants underwent resting state functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scanning. Regression analyses were conducted between mean Stroop performances and whole‐brain fractional anisotropy (FA) in white matter. Moderation testing was conducted between mean FA within significant clusters as moderator and the link between momentary Stroop performance and use as outcome. Predictions between FA and resting‐state connectivity strength in known inhibition‐related networks were assessed using mixed modelling. Higher FA values in the anterior corpus callosum and bilateral anterior corona radiata predicted higher mean Stroop performance during the EMA week and stronger functional connectivity in occipital–frontal–cerebellar regions. Integrity in these regions moderated the link between inhibitory control and substance use, whereby stronger inhibition was predictive of the lowest probability of use for the highest FA values. In conclusion, compromised white matter structural integrity in anterior brain systems appears to underlie impairment in inhibitory control functional networks and compromised ability to refrain from substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic Fluency (SF) increases with age, along with the lexicon and the strategies to access it. Among the cognitive processes involved in controlling lexical access, Executive Functions (EF) play an essential role. Nevertheless, which EF, namely inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, are specifically tapped by SF during preschool years, when these basic EF components are developing and differentiating, is still unknown. The study had a two-fold aim: 1. to analyze in preschoolers the role of EF basic components on SF; 2. to investigate if EF mediated the effect of age on SF. A total of 296 typically developing preschoolers (M age = 57.86; SD = 9.91; month range = 33--74) were assessed with an SF task and EF tasks measuring the main EF basic components. Results showed that during preschool, response inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility were significant predictors of SF, explaining 27% of its variance. Moreover, the effect of age on the SF task performance correlated with the improvement of these EF components. This study supports the importance of considering cognitive control processes in 3--6 year-old preschoolers as they underline important competencies for the child's development, such as the ability to quickly access vocabulary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate persists regarding the nature of age-related deficits in inhibition, and whether inhibitory functioning depends on working memory systems. The current research aimed to measure age-related differences in inhibition and working memory, characterize the relationship between inhibitory functions and working memory performance, and determine how these relationships are affected by age. Toward these ends, we measured performance on a range of established paradigms in 60 young adults (18–30 years) and 60 older adults (60–88 years). Our findings support age-related increases in reflexive inhibition (based on the fixation offset effect and inhibition of return) and age-related decrements in volitional inhibition (based on several paradigms: antisaccade, Stroop, flanker, and Simon). This evidence of stronger reflexive inhibition combined with weaker volitional inhibition suggests that age-related deterioration of cortical structures may allow subcortical structures to operate less controlled. Regarding working memory, older adults had lower backward digit scores and lower forward and backward spatial scores. However, of the 32 analyses (16 in each age group) that tested for dependence of inhibitory functioning on working memory functioning, only one (in young adults) indicated that inhibition performance significantly depended on working memory performance. These results indicate that inhibition and working memory function largely independently in both age groups, and age-related working memory difficulties cannot account for age-related declines in inhibitory control. This study indicates that, compared to young adults, older adults have difficulties with both working memory and volitional inhibition but show stronger reflexive inhibition. The pattern of age differences shown in this study suggests that the balance of power shifts from cortical to subcortical brain structures as we age, which may reflect cortical brain regions deteriorating more rapidly as we age, thus limiting their ability to control subcortical brain regions. In contrast to current theory, in this study the difficulties that older adults showed with volitional inhibition could not be explained by failing working memory systems, and both young and older adults showed very limited evidence that inhibitory functioning depends on working memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It is known from earlier literature that substance use is associated with diminished executive functioning and decreased quality of life (QoL). The study extended this knowledge by assessing whether selective executive function components would mediate the association between age and QoL domains in young men with substance use disorder and whether family history of substance use would moderate these mediated associations. Method: A sample of 212 young inpatient men with substance use disorder (105 positive family history and 107 negative family history of substance use disorder) was selected from drug units/wards of government sector hospitals. Results: The participants with positive family history compared to those with negative family history scored significantly lower on all QoL domains except physical QoL. Mediation analyses revealed that only inhibition but not flexibility mediated the negative association of age with psychological, social, and environmental QoL. Furthermore, family history of substance use moderated all the significant mediated associations with stronger indirect negative associations in participants having a family history of substance use disorder compared to those with no such history. Conclusions: It is concluded that inhibitory control, which is vulnerable to aging, substance use, and family history of substance use, is an important factor related to QoL in young substance abuser men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate if the acute effects of a physical activity (PA) break on the on-task and off-task classroom behavior of primary school children are mediated by inhibition. Combining arousal theory and the cognitive stimulation hypothesis, we employed a 15-min intermittent PA protocol aiming at high-intensity with cognitive demands. We were interested in the effects of PA in real-life settings and in a feasible and sustainable manner for teachers. Thus, the PA session was short and all data collection carried out in ecologically valid school and classroom environments. Methods: Fifteen 4th grade classes were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG; eight classes, n = 120) or waitlist control group (WCG; seven classes, n = 91). Participants were observed during normal classroom lessons for 25 min before and after the PA break (EG) or a business-as-usual lesson (WCG) and completed the Hearts and Flowers task, a task measuring primarily inhibition, once per observation block. We analyzed the effect of PA on inhibition with ANOVA and the effect on behavior and mediation effect with logistic multilevel models. Results: The PA break positively affected inhibition with a small effect. Active off-task classroom behavior was higher at post-test in the WCG, but not the EG. Of practical importance, intercept-slope interactions indicated that those with higher levels of off-task behavior at pre-test experienced greater benefits of the PA breaks. No significant mediation of the effect of PA on task-related behaviors via inhibition was found. Discussion: In conclusion, a time-efficient PA break can improve inhibition and off-task classroom behavior in primary school children. Although these effects occur concurrently, they appear to be independent of each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies have revealed the association between mapping and arithmetic (Ferres‐Forga et al., J. Numer. Cogn., 8, 2022, 123; LeFevre et al., J. Numer. Cogn., 8, 2022, 1). Aim: The underlying mechanism remains unclear. Materials & Methods: The current study recruited 118 kindergarten children and followed up on them three times at 6‐month intervals. They completed measures to assess mapping skills (T1), non‐verbal IQ (T1), numeral knowledge (T2), inhibitory control (T2), analogical reasoning (T2) and arithmetic (T3). Results: The results showed that mapping accounted for significant variance in arithmetic ability over and above age, gender and non‐verbal IQ. Furthermore, analogical reasoning played an important role in the relationship between mapping and mathematics ability. Discussion: The findings suggest the association between mapping and mathematics ability prior to formal schooling. Conclusion: Analogical reasoning, rather than numeral knowledge or inhibitory control, may drive that association in young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to inhibit an already initiated response is crucial for navigating the environment. However, it is unclear which characteristics make stop-signals more likely to be processed efficiently. In three consecutive studies, we demonstrate that stop-signal modality and location are key factors that influence reactive response inhibition. Study 1 shows that tactile stop-signals lead to better performance compared to visual stop-signals in an otherwise visual choice-reaction task. Results of Study 2 reveal that the location of the stop-signal matters. Specifically, if a visual stop-signal is presented at a different location compared to the visual go-signal, then stopping performance is enhanced. Extending these results, study 3 suggests that tactile stop-signals and location-distinct visual stop-signals retain their performance enhancing effect when visual distractors are presented at the location of the go-signal. In sum, these results confirm that stop-signal modality and location influence reactive response inhibition, even in the face of concurrent distractors. Future research may extend and generalize these findings to other cross-modal setups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to predict suicide attempts based on behavioral activation and inhibition systems (BAS/BIS) with the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies among adolescents of Abyek City. Materials and methods: The research methodology was descriptive-correlational. The cluster sampling method was used, and the resulting sample included 194 adolescents who responded to the BAS/BIS questionnaire (Carver & White, 1994), CER questionnaire, and Beck scale for suicide ideation. Path analysis was employed to evaluate the proposed model using AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 27 softwares. Results: The findings indicate that the proposed model is fitted with the data well. The results of path analysis showed that the BAS/BIS systems explain 27% of the variance of maladaptive CER and 61% of the variance of adaptive CER. In addition, maladaptive CER, BAS, and BIS explain 65% of the variance of suicide attempts. Conclusion: Low levels of BAS, high levels of BIS, and the use of maladaptive CER skills can be considered risk factors for suicide attempts in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creativity is the ability to re-experience mental representations and is the basis of intuitive thinking when constructing images prior to the elaboration of an action plan. Creativity is thought to be related to orbitofrontal functions that govern decision making, such as inhibitory control, risk–benefit evaluation and acceptance of limits and rules, given that these processes prepare one against possible scenarios. Objective: In this study, the relationship between creativity and decision making is investigated to understand the needs of gifted students. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out with gifted students (IQ mean = 133) aged 8–10 years old (n = 25). Instruments: Creative Imagination Test (PIC) and subtests of the Neuropsychological Battery of Executive Functions and Frontal Lobes (BANFE-2) were employed. Analysis: A Spearman correlation analysis was conducted between the normalized BANFE-2 scores and the percentiles of PIC. Results: Moderate correlations were found between creative/narrative flexibility and decision making/risk percentage (r = 0.432, p ≤ 0.05) and decision making/response-effectiveness (r = 0.426, p ≤ 0.05), as well as between graphic creativity/shadow and color with decision making/response-effectiveness (r = 0.452, p ≤ 0.05) and inhibition (r = 0.673, p ≤ 0.01); moderate negative correlations were found between inhibition and graphic creativity/title (r = −0.570, p ≤ 0.05) and general graphic creativity (r = −0.489, p ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: Creativity in students with intellectual giftedness is favored by a relationship with orbitofrontal functions. Analysis of risk situations and effective decision making increase narrative creation and diminished inhibition allows for greater creative graphic production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral interpersonal coordination requires smooth negotiation of actions in time and space (joint action—JA). Inhibitory control may play a role in fine-tuning appropriate coordinative responses. To date, little research has been conducted on motor inhibition during JA and on the modulatory influence that premotor areas might exert on inhibitory control. Here, we used an interactive task in which subjects were required to reach and open a bottle using one hand. The bottle was held and stabilized by a co-actor (JA) or by a mechanical holder (vice clamp, no-JA). We recorded two TMS-based indices of inhibition (short-interval intracortical inhibition—sICI; cortical silent period—cSP) during the reaching phase of the task. These reflect fast intracortical (GABAa-mediated) and slow corticospinal (GABAb-mediated) inhibition. Offline continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) was used to interfere with dorsal premotor cortex (PMd), ventral premotor cortex (PMv), and control site (vertex) before the execution of the task. Our results confirm a dissociation between fast and slow inhibition during JA coordination and provide evidence that premotor areas drive only slow inhibitory mechanisms, which in turn may reflect behavioral co-adaptation between trials. Exploratory analyses further suggest that PMd, more than PMv, is the key source of modulatory drive sculpting movements, according to the socio-interactive context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The targeted inhibition of Microtubule Affinity-Regulating Kinase 4 (MARK4) using small molecule inhibitors has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for diverse diseases, including neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Ongoing research endeavors aim to develop novel and more effective MARK4 inhibitors with enhanced target specificity and reduced off-target effects. In the present study, we sought to investigate the binding affinity and impact of Naringenin on the activity of MARK4. Methods: We employed a combination of molecular docking and other bioinformatics methods, a fluorescence-based inhibition assay, as well as a kinase activity assay to assess the binding affinity and inhibition potential of Naringenin against MARK4. Additionally, we utilized the MTT assay to examine the effect of Naringenin on the viability of two cell lines: the normal human cell line HEK-293 and the neuronal cell line SH-SY5Y. The IC50 dose of Naringenin, determined from the MTT assay, provided a valuable reference point for subsequent neuronal cell line experiments. Results: The results of the molecular docking demonstrated a robust binding affinity of Naringenin (-7.8 kcal/mol) to MARK4, affirming its potency as an inhibitor. Moreover, the fluorescence inhibition and kinase activity assays confirmed the inhibitory effect of Naringenin on MARK4. Interestingly, the MTT assay outcomes indicated that increasing concentrations of Naringenin did not significantly impact the viability of HEK 293 cells, while exhibiting a pronounced effect on SH-SY5Y neuronal cells. The IC50 concentration of Naringenin was determined to be 10.0 ± 1.33 µM for SH-SY5Y neuronal cells. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study reported Naringenin as a potential inhibitor molecule for MARK4, offering promising prospects for future therapeutic interventions in neuronal disorders specifically for Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the relationship between different components of inhibition (interference control, response inhibition) and pre‐academic skills in a sample of 105 5‐ and 6‐year‐old German and Austrian kindergarten children. Interference control is a form of cognitive inhibition that fosters focused attention on task‐relevant information and the exclusion of task‐irrelevant stimuli, while response inhibition refers to the behavioral inhibition of predominant reactions. We hypothesized that interference control would explain more variance in pre‐academic skills than response inhibition because of the importance of focused attention for the acquisition of (pre‐)academic skills. A structural equation model with two latent factors for the two assumed inhibition components did not fit the data, but a model with a single latent inhibition factor fit well. Inhibition substantially predicted pre‐academic skills over and above chronological age. Results indicate that inhibitory processes are domain‐general predictors of early academic achievement, but the factorial structure of inhibition in kindergarten age requires further clarification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The developmental absence (agenesis) of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is a congenital brain malformation associated with risk for a range of neuropsychological difficulties. Inhibitory control outcomes, including interference control and response inhibition, in children with AgCC are unclear. This study examined interference control and response inhibition: 1) in children with AgCC compared with typically developing (TD) children, 2) in children with different anatomical features of AgCC (complete vs. partial, isolated vs. complex), and 3) associations with white matter volume and microstructure of the anterior (AC) and posterior commissures (PC) and any remnant corpus callosum (CC). Methods: Participants were 27 children with AgCC and 32 TD children 8–16 years who completed inhibitory control assessments and brain MRI to define AgCC anatomical features and measure white matter volume and microstructure. Results: The AgCC cohort had poorer performance and higher rates of below average performance on inhibitory control measures than TD children. Children with complex AgCC had poorer response inhibition performance than children with isolated AgCC. While not statistically significant, there were select medium to large effect sizes for better inhibitory control associated with greater volume and microstructure of the AC and PC, and with reduced volume and microstructure of the remnant CC in partial AgCC. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of inhibitory control difficulties in children with AgCC. While the sample was small, the study found preliminary evidence that the AC (f 2=.18) and PC (f 2=.30) may play a compensatory role for inhibitory control outcomes in the absence of the CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We studied saccade performance to study the underlying basal ganglia (BG) pathophysiology in Segawa's disease (SD). • We found a mild delay in latency of memory guided saccades and impairment to suppress reflexive saccades in SD. • Dopamine deficiency manifests in oculomotor abnormalities during development with delayed maturation especially in male patients. Objective: To investigate the oculomotor manifestations of Segawa disease (SD), considered to represent mild dopamine deficiency and discuss their pathophysiological basis. Methods: We recorded visually- (VGS) and memory-guided saccade (MGS) tasks in 31 SD patients and 153 age-matched control subjects to study how basal ganglia (BG) dysfunction in SD evolves with age for male and female subjects. Results: SD patients were impaired in initiating MGS, showing longer latencies with occasional failure. Patients showed impaired ability to suppress reflexive saccades; saccades to cues presented in MGS were more frequent and showed a shorter latency than in control subjects. These findings were more prominent in male patients, particularly between 13 and 25 years. Additionally, male patients showed larger delay in MGS latency in trials preceded by saccades to cue than those unpreceded. Conclusions: The findings can be explained by a dysfunction of the BG-direct pathway impinging on superior colliculus (SC) due to dopamine deficiency. The disturbed inhibitory control of saccades may be explained by increased SC responsivity to visual stimuli. Significance: Oculomotor abnormalities in SD can be explained by dysfunction of the BG inhibitory pathways reaching SC, with a delayed maturation in male SD patients, consistent with previous pathological/physiological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Inferior Frontal Occipital Fasciculus (IFOF) is a major anterior-to-posterior white matter pathway in the ventral human brain that connects parietal, temporal and occipital regions to frontal cortex. It has been implicated in a range of functions, including language, semantics, inhibition and the control of action. The recent research shows that the IFOF can be sub-divided into a ventral and dorsal branch, but the functional relevance of this distinction, as well as any potential hemispheric differences, are poorly understood. Using DTI tractography, we investigated the involvement of dorsal and ventral subdivisions of the IFOF in the left and right hemisphere in a response inhibition task (Go/No-Go), where the decision to respond or to withhold a prepotent response was made on the basis of semantic or non-semantic aspects of visual inputs. The task also varied the presentation modality (whether concepts were presented as written words or images). The results showed that the integrity of both dorsal and ventral IFOF in the left hemisphere were associated with participants' inhibition performance when the signal to stop was meaningful and presented in the verbal modality. This effect was absent in the right hemisphere. The integrity of dorsal IFOF was also associated with participants' inhibition efficiency in difficult perceptually guided decisions. This pattern of results indicates that left dorsal IFOF is implicated in the domain-general control of visually-guided behaviour, while the left ventral branch might interface with the semantic system to support the control of action when the inhibitory signal is based on meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The stop-signal task is widely used in experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience research, as well as neuropsychological and clinical practice for assessing response inhibition. The task requires participants to make speeded responses on a majority of trials, but to inhibit responses when a stop signal appears after the imperative cue. The stop-signal delay after the onset of the imperative cue determines how difficult it is to cancel an initiated action. The delay is typically staircased to maintain a 50% stopping accuracy for an estimation of stopping speed to be calculated. However, the validity of this estimation is compromised when participants engage in strategic slowing, motivated by a desire to avoid stopping failures. We hypothesized that maintaining stopping accuracy at 66.67% reduces this bias, and that slowing may also be impacted by the level of experimenter supervision. We found that compared with 50%, using a 66.67% stopping accuracy staircase produced slower stop-signal reaction time estimations (≈7 ms), but resulted in fewer strategic slowing exclusions. Additionally, both staircase procedures had similar within-experiment test–retest reliability. We also found that while individual and group testing in a laboratory setting produced similar estimations of stopping speed, participants tested online produced slower estimates. Our findings indicate that maintaining stopping accuracy at 66.67% is a reliable method for estimating stopping speed and can have benefits over the standard 50% staircase procedure. Further, our results show that care should be taken when comparing between experiments using different staircases or conducted in different testing environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Maladaptive behavior often results from poor decision-making and by extension poor control over decisions. Since maladaptive behavior in driving, such as excessive speed, can lead to dramatic consequences, identifying its causes is of particular concern. The present study investigated how risk-taking and executive functioning are related to driving performance and habits among the general population. Method: Five hundred and eighty-nine participants completed an on-road driving session with a professional driving instructor and a self-reported checklist of difficult driving situations typically avoided. Additionally, participants completed a set of experimental tasks assessing risk-taking tendencies, reactive adaptive mechanisms, and two distinct forms of inhibition: interference control and response inhibition. Results: The results of the present study revealed several significant findings. Firstly, poor driving performance was associated with a high avoidance of challenging driving situations. Secondly, neither form of inhibition studied (interference control or response inhibition) predicted driving performance. Thirdly, while greater involvement in reactive adaptive mechanisms did not predict better on-road performance, it was associated with a reduced tendency to avoid difficult situations. Surprisingly, a higher propensity for risk-taking predicted better on-road performance. Discussion: Overall, these results underline limited links between executive functioning and driving performance while highlighting a potentially more complex relationship between risk-taking tendencies and driving. Executive functioning, however, appears to be linked to driving habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processing rational numbers is difficult for many children. The natural number bias is one possible explanation for why children struggle with rational numbers. It refers to the tendency to overgeneralize the properties of natural numbers. In this study, it is argued that in order to be successful in rational number tasks, individuals need to inhibit or suppress their unwanted impulses (in this case the tendency to apply natural number properties). It was investigated whether inhibition plays a role in the occurrence of the natural number bias among primary school children by administering two rational number tasks, two Stroop tasks and a questionnaire measuring inhibitory skills. The results indicated that primary school children were hampered by the natural number bias both in terms of accuracy rates and response times. Additionally, the results did not yield strong evidence for a relationship between inhibition and the occurrence of the natural number bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intro: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of quiet eye training (QET) on inhibitory control, visuospatial working memory (WM), and tonic attention in children with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: Forty‐eight children with ADHD aged 9–12 years were randomly assigned to QET and control (CON) groups. The QET group practiced targeted hand–eye tasks within a QET protocol developed to optimize controlled attention and gaze through eye fixations. We used the go/no‐go (GNG) test, the Corsi test, and the reaction test of alertness (RTA) to verify the effects of QET on inhibition control, WM, and tonic attention. Results: QET group showed significantly shorter reaction times, a higher number of correct responses, and a lower number of omissions in the GNG inhibition test after QET as compared to the pre‐measurements, whereas the CON group did not demonstrate significant changes in this test. The measures of WM (Corsi test) and tonic attention (RTA) did not change significantly with the QET‐based intervention. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that the QET protocol, which includes instructions and a video demonstration to optimize eye fixation on a target during aiming tasks, is acceptable and usable for children with ADHD. Overall, a short‐term, 5‐week visuomotor training intervention based on the quiet eye paradigm was shown to be effective in improving inhibitory control and focused visual attention, but not visuospatial WM and intrinsic attention in 9–12‐year‐old children with inattentive or combined ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Inhibitory control develops gradually from infancy to childhood and improves further during adolescence as the brain matures. Related previous studies showed the indispensable role of task-related alpha power during inhibition both in children and young adults. Nonetheless, none of the studies have been able to investigate the direct differences in brain responses between children and young adults when confronted with a stimulus that should be inhibited. Because, unlike event-related designs, task-related designs involve continuous tasks over a certain period, which precludes the possibility of making such a comparison. Accordingly, by employing event-related design, the present study first time in the literature, aimed to analyze the event-related alpha phase locking and eventrelated alpha synchronization/ desynchronization to differentiate the inhibitory processes in children compared to young adults. Methods: Twenty children between the ages of 6 to 7 years and 20 healthy young adult subjects between the ages of 18 to 30 years were included in the study. Daynight Stroop task was applied to all subjects during 18-channel EEG recordings. Event-related time-frequency analysis was performed with the complex Morlet Wavelet Transform for the alpha frequency band (8-13 Hz). Event related spectral perturbation (ERSP) in three different time windows (0-200 ms, 200-400 ms, 400-600 ms) and Event-related phase locking in the early time window (0-400 ms) was calculated. Results: The children had increased alpha power in early and late time windows but decreased alpha phase locking in the early time windows compared to young adults. There were also topological differences between groups; while young adults had increased alpha phase-locking in frontal and parietal electrode sites, children had increased occipital alpha power and phase locking. Discussion: The shift in event-related alpha power observed from posterior to anterior regions with age may suggest a progressive maturation of the frontal areas involved in inhibitory processes from childhood to adulthood. The results of the present study showed that children and young adults had different EEG oscillatory dynamics during inhibitory processes at alpha frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent in adolescent populations worldwide. Emotion dysregulation and emotional inhibition are believed to contribute to NSSI. This study assessed the impact of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on cognitive emotion regulation and emotional inhibition in self-injurious preadolescents. Methods: The present semi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of the study included all preadolescent girls with NSSI who had been referred to counseling centers in Tehran, Tehran, Iran, in 2019. A purposeful sampling method was used to select 30 preadolescent girls with NSSI for this controlled study. The participants were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (15 participants per group) to attend weekly training sessions. The data collection tools used included the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI; Gratz, 2001) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003). The experimental group then underwent ACT (Cardaciotto, Herbert, Forman, Moitra, & Farrow, 2008) for 8 weekly 90-minute sessions, whereas the control group received no training. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The results showed that ACT was effective on cognitive emotion regulation (F = 18.09; P = 0.001) and emotional inhibition (F = 21.54; P = 0.001) in self-injurious preadolescents. Univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed significant differences between the study groups in terms of cognitive emotional regulation (F = 18.09; P = 0.001) and emotional inhibition (F = 21.54; P = 0.001). Conclusion: The results showed that ACT had a positive impact on cognitive emotion regulation and emotional inhibition in adolescents with NSSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Repeated action or inaction toward objects changes preferences for those objects. However, it remains unclear whether such training activates approachavoidance motivation toward the objects, which leads to actual behavior. We conducted a pre-registered online experiment to examine whether approach and avoidance tendencies were affected by the experience of having executed or withheld a button-press response to a stimulus. Methods: Participants (N = 236) performed a Go/NoGo task in which they were asked to repeatedly execute a response to a picture of a mug (i.e., Go-primed stimulus) and suppress a response to another picture of a mug (i.e., NoGo-primed stimulus). They then received one of two manikin tasks, which were implicit association tests designed to assess approach--avoidance tendencies. One manikin task measured the reaction times of moving a manikin toward or away from the Go-primed stimulus and the other picture of a mug (i.e., unprimed stimulus). The other manikin task measured the reaction times of moving a manikin toward or away from the NoGo-primed stimulus and the unprimed stimulus. The participants then rated their preference for the Go-primed, NoGo-primed, and unprimed items. Results: The Go-primed item was evaluated as more highly preferable than the unprimed item in the Go condition, while the NoGo-primed item was evaluated as less preferable than the unprimed item in the NoGo condition. In contrast, the mean approach/avoidance reaction times in the manikin task showed no difference between the Go-primed and unprimed stimuli or between the NoGo-primed and unprimed stimuli. Conclusion: When participants repeatedly responded or inhibited their responses to an object, their explicit preference for the object increased or decreased, respectively. However, the effect did not occur in approach-avoidance behaviors toward the object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibition is one of the core components of cognitive control. In experimental tasks which measure cognitive inhibition, performance may vary according to an interplay of individuals' chronotype and the time of day of testing ("synchrony effect", or the beneficial impact on cognitive performance of aligning testing with the time of day preferred by an individual's chronotype). Some prior studies have reported a synchrony effect specifically emerging in activities which require cognitive inhibition, but not in general processing speed, but existing findings are inconsistent. If genuine, synchrony effects should be taken into account when comparing groups of participants. Here we explored whether synchrony effects emerge in a sample of young adults. In a multi-part online study, we captured various components of inhibition (response suppression; inhibitory control; switching) plus a general measure of processing speed across various times of the day. Individuals' chronotype was included as a predictor of performance. Critically, we found no evidence of a synchrony effect (an association between chronotype and component of interest where the directionality is dependent on time of testing) in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impaired inhibitory control has been shown in individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). Cardiorespiratory fitness has been described as a potential factor to improve inhibitory control; however, the benefits in individuals with SUD are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness with general and drug-specific inhibitory control in individuals with SUD. Sixty-two male participants under treatment for SUD performed a general and drug-specific inhibitory control test (go/no-go) and a cardiorespiratory fitness test. Cardiorespiratory fitness, age, and years of drug use were inversely associated with reaction time for both general and drug-specific inhibitory control. In addition, the regression models showed that cardiorespiratory fitness predicts general and drug-specific inhibitory control adjusted for age and time of drug use. However, cardiorespiratory fitness predicts equally both general and drug-specific inhibitory control. These findings suggest that increasing cardiorespiratory fitness could provide benefits in the inhibitory function of individuals with SUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interpretation of massive high-throughput gene expression data requires computational and biological analyses to identify statistically and biologically significant differences, respectively. There are abundant sources that describe computational tools for statistical analysis of massive gene expression data but few address data analysis for biological significance. In the present article we exemplify the importance of selecting the proper biological context in the human brain for gene expression data analysis and interpretation. For this purpose, we use cortical type as conceptual tool to make predictions about gene expression in areas of the human temporal cortex. We predict that the expression of genes related to glutamatergic transmission would be higher in areas of simpler cortical type, the expression of genes related to GABAergic transmission would be higher in areas of more complex cortical type, and the expression of genes related to epigenetic regulation would be higher in areas of simpler cortical type. Then, we test these predictions with gene expression data from several regions of the human temporal cortex obtained from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. We find that the expression of several genes shows statistically significant differences in agreement with the predicted gradual expression along the laminar complexity gradient of the human cortex, suggesting that simpler cortical types may have greater glutamatergic excitability and epigenetic turnover compared to more complex types; on the other hand, complex cortical types seem to have greater GABAergic inhibitory control compared to simpler types. Our results show that cortical type is a good predictor of synaptic plasticity, epigenetic turnover, and selective vulnerability in human cortical areas. Thus, cortical type can provide a meaningful context for interpreting high-throughput gene expression data in the human cerebral cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve fluent language processing as a bilingual, a dominant theoretical framework assumes that the nontarget language is inhibited. This assumption is based on several empirical effects that are typically explained with inhibitory control. In the current article, we discuss four prominent effects linked to bilingual inhibition in language production (i.e., asymmetrical switch costs, n−2 language repetition costs, reversed language dominance, and the blocked language order effect). We argue that these effects require more empirical examination in order to arrive at a firmer basis for the assumption that inhibition plays a major role during bilingual language control. In particular, the empirical replicability of the phenomena themselves needs to be established more firmly, the underlying theoretical assumptions need further examination, and the alternative explanations of the empirical effects need to be scrutinized. In turn, we conclude that inhibitory control may provide a coherent framework for bilingual language production while outlining the challenges that the inhibition account still needs to face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim was to delineate the electrophysiological basis of dysfunctional inhibitory control of adult ADHD via investigating the anteriorization of the P3 component of the event-related brain response associated with the NoGo task condition (i.e., NoGo anteriorization, NGA). NGA is a neurophysiological measure of brain topography for cognitive response control, which indexes an overall shift of the brain's electrical activity in anterior direction towards the prefrontal areas. While the NoGo P3 received considerable attention in the adult ADHD literature, the brain topography of this component, which reflects the inhibitory process, remains largely unaddressed. EEG recordings were obtained during a Go/NoGo task from 51 subjects (n = 26 adult patients with ADHD, n = 25 healthy controls) using a high-density, 128-channel BioSemi ActiveTwo recording system. ADHD patients had significantly lower P3 NGA response compared to controls. The decrease in NGA was related to impulsivity scores as measured by the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale: patients with higher impulsivity scores had significantly lower NGA. Treatment with stimulant medication, as compared to the lack of such treatment, was associated with a correction of the lower NGA response in ADHD patients. The current study revealed a lower NGA in adult ADHD, a finding which is consistent with the inhibitory control and frontal lobe dysfunctions described in the disorder. Our finding of the inverse relationship between NGA and impulsivity suggests that clinically more severe impulsivity is linked to a more pronounced frontal dysfunction in adult ADHD subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that alertness can affect inhibitory control, the mechanism responsible for stopping behaviors, thoughts, or emotions. Inhibitory control is particularly important for helping individuals with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) resisting their symptoms. Chronotype is the mechanism governing an individual's fluctuation of alertness throughout the day. Previous studies have shown that individuals with a 'morning' chronotype have worse OCD symptoms in the evening and vice versa. We administered a novel 'symptom-provocation stop signal task' (SP-SST), in which individually tailored OCD triggers were presented and inhibitory control was measured. Twenty-five treatment-seeking OCD patients completed the SP-SST three times per day for seven consecutive days. Stop signal reaction time (SSRT), which measures inhibitory control, was calculated separately for symptom-provocation trials and for neutral trials. Results yielded that: (a) stopping was significantly harder in the symptom-provocation compared to neutral trials, and (b) the chronotype by time-of-day interaction predicts inhibition for both symptom-provocation and neutral trials, indicating better inhibition in the optimal time of day. Furthermore, we concluded that individually tailored OCD triggers have a detrimental effect on inhibitory control. Most importantly, higher alertness levels, which can be predicted by the interaction of chronotype and time of day, affect inhibitory control, both in general and for OCD triggers specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundYouth whose parents have alcohol use disorder (AUD) are at higher risk for earlier initiation and greater magnitude of alcohol use, and have a higher likelihood of developing an AUD than their peers without parental history of AUD. This increased risk may be partly attributable to altered development of inhibitory control and related neural circuitry. This study examined neural activation during a motor response inhibition Stop Signal Task (SST) in substance-naïve youth aged 9 to 10 years with and without parental family history of AUD.MethodsBaseline cross-sectional survey and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were drawn from 6,898 youth in the US-based Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Generalized additive mixed models were conducted to examine the association between maternal, paternal, and parental (both mother and father) family history of AUD with neural activation during successful and failed response inhibition. Family history interactions with sex and stratification by ethnicity were explored.ResultsOf 6,898 participants, 951 (14%) were family history positive for any parental AUD. Paternal history of AUD was associated with greater activation for successful inhibition in the right medial orbital frontal gyrus, compared to youth with no family history. Maternal history of AUD was associated with greater activation for failed response inhibition among females in the cerebellum, compared to females with no such history. Parental history (both mother and father) of AUD was associated with greater activation during successful inhibition in the left paracentral gyri and left superior parietal lobule. Maternal history and parental history of AUD findings were accounted for by a family history of substance use disorder in general. All effect sizes were relatively small.ConclusionsSubstance-naïve children with a parental family history of AUD exhibit greater neural activation in some regions of the fronto-basal ganglia and cerebellar networks when they successfully or unsuccessfully inhibit a response as compared to children with no such family history. This unique neural response pattern could reflect a compensatory response and may represent an inherent neurobiological vulnerability to risk-related behaviors in these youth which will be examined in future longitudinal analyses of this cohort.

BackgroundAltered brain activation during response inhibition has been linked to a greater risk for alcohol and other substance use behaviors in late adolescence. However, the ability of neural markers of response inhibition, acquired during adolescence, to temporally predict the transition from less frequent and lower quantity alcohol use to high-risk, frequent (≥ weekly) binge drinking behavior remains unclear.MethodsAdolescents (N = 29; 9 females) were selected from a larger ongoing longitudinal study to include those who transitioned to at least weekly binge drinking (≥5/4 alcoholic drinks for males/females per occasion) over a 15-year follow-up period. Prior to the onset of weekly binge drinking (mean age = 18.0), participants underwent a functional MRI including a go/no-go task. Whole-brain activation from the no-go correct rejection versus no-go false alarm contrast was used to predict time to transition to frequent binge drinking.ResultsLess no-go correct rejection versus no-go false alarm activation in a cluster including the precentral gyri, insula, and inferior frontal gyri predicted a more rapid transition into frequent binge drinking (voxel-wise alpha

Purpose: Secretin activates brown adipose tissue (BAT) and induces satiation in both mice and humans. However, the exact brain mechanism of this satiety inducing, secretin-mediated gut-BAT-brain axis is largely unknown. Methods and results: In this placebo-controlled, single-blinded neuroimaging study, firstly using [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET measures (n = 15), we established that secretin modulated brain glucose consumption through the BAT-brain axis. Predominantly, we found that BAT and caudate glucose uptake levels were negatively correlated (r = -0.54, p = 0.037) during secretin but not placebo condition. Then, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; n = 14), we found that secretin improved inhibitory control and downregulated the brain response to appetizing food images. Finally, in a PET-fMRI fusion analysis (n = 10), we disclosed the patterned correspondence between caudate glucose uptake and neuroactivity to reward and inhibition, showing that the secretin-induced neurometabolic coupling patterns promoted satiation. Conclusion: These findings suggest that secretin may modulate the BAT-brain metabolic crosstalk and subsequently the neurometabolic coupling to induce satiation. The study advances our understanding of the secretin signaling in motivated eating behavior and highlights the potential role of secretin in treating eating disorders and obesity. Trial registration: EudraCT no. 2016-002373-35, registered 2 June 2016; Clinical Trials no. NCT03290846, registered 25 September 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rigid, stimulus‐bound nature of drug seeking that characterizes substance use disorder (SUD) has been related to a dysregulation of motivational and early attentional reflexive and inhibitory reflective systems. However, the mechanisms by which these systems are engaged by drug‐paired conditioned stimuli (CSs) when they promote the enactment of seeking habits in individuals with a SUD have not been elucidated. The present study aimed behaviourally and electrophysiologically to characterize the nature of the interaction between the reflexive and reflective systems recruited by CSs in individuals with a smoking habit. We measured the behavioural performance and associated event‐related potentials (ERPs) of 20 individuals with a smoking habit and 20 controls, who never smoked regularly, in a modified Go/NoGo task during which smoking‐related CSs, appetitive and neutral pictures, presented either in first or third‐person visual perspective were displayed 250 ms before the Go/NoGo cue. We show that smoking‐related cues selectively influence early incentive motivation‐related attention bias (N2 after picture onset), motor readiness and behavioural inhibition (Go‐P3, NoGo‐P3 and Pc) of individuals with a smoking habit only when presented from a first‐person visual perspective. These data together identify the neural signature of the aberrant engagement of the reflexive and reflective systems during the recruitment of an incentive habit by CSs presented as if they had been response‐produced, that is, as conditioned reinforcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impaired inhibitory control is a core transdiagnostic mechanism in psychopathology. Directly targeting inhibitory control in intervention studies has, however, produced only little improvement. Recently, promising improvements in inhibitory control were shown by capitalizing on the inhibitory spillover effect (ISE). The central requirement of ISE is a simultaneous execution of two tasks, allowing for improved inhibitory control in the target task when control is simultaneously recruited in an induction task. The magnitude of the ISE remains to be assessed. In this preregistered meta-analysis, we synthesized eligible data from studies across psychology with the central requirement of simultaneity; thus, we deliberately included also studies meeting this requirement without the explicit aim to investigate the ISE. Results confirmed previous evidence of the ISE and documented a statistically significant small effect size (g = 0.27). Of the different induction types, cognitive induction showed the largest effects, whereas physiological and attentional induction tasks were less effective. In contrast, motor induction did not result in a significant ISE. Due to high between-study heterogeneity, we analyzed several preregistered and exploratory moderators, out of which only duration of the experimental sequence, group affiliation, and planned investigation of the ISE were significant. Sensitivity analyses yielded no indication of a publication bias. Taken together, this meta-analysis suggests that the ISE is a small, but substantial and robust effect. Future research should investigate how the ISE is applied best to reap its practical value in new treatment approaches for individuals with inhibition impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]