Pre-trial fronto-occipital electrophysiological connectivity affects perception–action integration in response inhibition

Inhibition of inappropriate behavior is relevant in many everyday situations. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that induce response inhibition based on sensory information and what influences these mechanisms are not entirely understood. We examined neurophysiological processes of perception–action integration in response inhibition and the impact of the pre-trial neurophysiological functional connectivity state in the theta and alpha band on these integration processes. The study was motivated by the Theory of Event Coding framework. Within the trial, fronto-medial theta band activity and occipital alpha band activity revealed an opposing interplay depending on the necessity of (re-)binding event files, i.e., the disintegration and recombination of stimulus–response associations, during response inhibition. When response inhibition required the reconfiguration of event files, this was associated with increased theta band activity but lower alpha band activity, and vice versa for the retrieval of event files. Notably, the most substantial impact of pre-trial connectivity on the within-trial event file binding effect (the difference between conditions that require reconfiguration and those that do not) during response inhibition occurred between fronto-medial areas and areas of the ventral stream in the theta frequency band. This suggests a preparatory top-down control of sensory areas before stimulus presentation. Increased pre-trial connectivity was associated with a decreased event file binding effect in the alpha frequency band and an increased event file binding effect in the theta frequency band during response inhibition. This implies an impact of the pre-trial functional connectivity state on inhibitory gating processes of relevant information and event file (re-)binding during response inhibition. The study shows how perception–action integration during response inhibition is affected by preceding transient neurophysiological connectivity states.