Right inferior frontal gyrus implements motor inhibitory control via beta-band oscillations in humans

Abstract

Motor inhibitory control implemented as response inhibition is an essential cognitive function required to dynamically adapt to rapidly changing environments. Despite of over a decade of research on the neural mechanisms of response inhibition, it remains unclear, how exactly response inhibition is initiated and implemented. Using a multimodal MEG/fMRI approach in 59 subjects our results reliably reveal that response inhibition is initiated by the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) as a form of attention-independent top-down control that involves the modulation of beta-band activity. Furthermore, stopping performance was predicted by beta-band power and beta-band connectivity was directed from rIFG to pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), indicating rIFG's dominance over pre-SMA. Thus, these results strongly support the hypothesis that rIFG initiates stopping, implemented by beta-band oscillations with potential to open up new ways of spatially localized oscillation-based interventions.

Altered Effective Connectivity within an Oculomotor Control Network in Unaffected Relatives of Individuals with Schizophrenia

“…This may reflect differences in expectations that the SEF propagates to the FEF that adjust the predicted trial-by-trial inhibitory demands [ 88 ]. Siblings also showed less excitatory modulation of the connection between the rIFC and the SEF, perhaps reflecting reduced inhibitory signaling [ 94 , 165 , 166 ] or reduced influence of the detection of contextual relevance of stimuli on motor planning [ 167 , 168 ]. In addition, we found more inhibitory modulation among siblings in connections from the superior colliculus to the caudate and the thalamus.…”

Self-regulation of the brain’s right frontal Beta rhythm using a brain-computer interface

“…While the neurofeedback training we employed was effective for both up and downregulating the Beta rhythm over rIFC, Alpha modulation at this scalp location was not achieved, detracting somewhat from the ability to make direct comparisons between behavior following Beta vs Alpha modulation. The lack of Alpha modulation over rIFC may be due to the fact that in this location, Beta is the predominant resonating frequency for neural processing and has been repeatedly implicated in the functioning of this region (Schaum et al, 2021;Sundby et al, 2021;Swann et al, 2009;Swann et al, 2012;Wagner et al, 2017).…”

“…Inhibitory control is a core component of healthy executive function, and deficiencies with this aspect of cognition manifest in disorders such as ADHD (e.g., Lijffijt et al, 2005) or addiction (e.g., Luijten et al, 2011). Inhibitory control is believed to rely on fast and flexible control of the brain's Beta rhythm (13-20 Hz;Enz et al, 2021;Jana et al, 2020;Schaum et al, 2021;Swann et al, 2009;Wagner et al, 2017;Wessel, 2020), primarily in a pathway connecting right inferior frontal cortex (rIFC) and basal ganglia (Aron et al, 2014;. The Stop Signal Task (SST) measures this cognitive process (Logan & Cowan, 1984) by requiring the participant to cancel an already initiated motor response following an infrequent Stop cue.…”

Brain responses in aggression-prone individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of anger- and aggression-eliciting tasks

“…The right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is part of the PFC and is an essential component of response inhibition (106,107,108,109,110). Since aggression has been linked to response inhibition deficits (111,112), enhanced right IFG activity in aggression-prone individuals might reflect an effort to inhibit aggressive responses, which is particularly relevant as participants had to presumably refrain from exhibiting aggressive behaviors in the scanner.…”