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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.02.26.433098

Towards a two-stage model of action-stopping: Attentional capture explains motor inhibition during early stop-signal processing

Tatz, J.·Soh, C.·Wessel, J. R.
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Abstract

The ability to stop an already initiated action is paramount to adaptive behavior. Most scientific debate in the field of human action-stopping currently focuses on two interrelated questions. First: Which mental and neural processes underpin the implementation of inhibitory control, and which reflect the attentional detection of salient stop-signals instead? Second: Why do physiological signatures of inhibition occur at two different latencies after stop-signals (for visual signals, either before or after [~]150ms)? Here, we address both questions via two pre-registered experiments that combined transcranial magnetic stimulation, electromyography, and multi-variate pattern analysis of whole-scalp electroencephalography. Using a stop-signal task that also contained a second type of salient signal that did not require stopping, we found that both signals induced equal amounts of early-latency inhibitory activity, whereas only later signatures (after 175ms) distinguished the two. These findings resolve ongoing debates in the literature and strongly suggest a two-step model of action-stopping.

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Tatz, J., Soh, C., Wessel, J. R.. 2021-02-27. Towards a two-stage model of action-stopping: Attentional capture explains motor inhibition during early stop-signal processing. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.26.433098

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