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Response inhibition on the stop signal task improves during cardiac contraction

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 13:40 authored by Charlotte RaeCharlotte Rae, Vanessa Botan, Cassandra D Gould van Praag, Aleksandra Herman, Jasmina A K Nyyssonen, David R Watson, Dora Duka, Sarah Garfinkel, Hugo CritchleyHugo Critchley
Motor actions can be facilitated or hindered by psychophysiological states of readiness, to guide rapid adaptive action. Cardiovascular arousal is communicated by cardiac signals conveying the timing and strength of individual heartbeats. Here, we tested how these interoceptive signals facilitate control of motor impulsivity. Participants performed a stop signal task, in which stop cues were delivered at different time points within the cardiac cycle: at systole when the heart contracts (T-wave peak, approximately 300?ms following the R-wave), or at diastole between heartbeats (R-wave peak). Response inhibition was better at systole, indexed by a shorter stop signal reaction time (SSRT), and longer stop signal delay (SSD). Furthermore, parasympathetic control of cardiovascular tone, and subjective sensitivity to interoceptive states, predicted response inhibition efficiency, although these cardiovascular and interoceptive correlations did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. This suggests that response inhibition capacity is influenced by interoceptive physiological cues, such that people are more likely to express impulsive actions during putative states of lower cardiovascular arousal, when frequency and strength of cardiac afferent signalling is reduced.

Funding

Sackler Centre - donation; G1813; SACKLER-DR MORTIMER AND THERESA SACKLER FOUNDATION

Cardiac control of fear in brain; G1120; EUROPEAN UNION; 324150 CCFIB

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Scientific Reports

ISSN

2045-2322

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Issue

1

Volume

8

Page range

1-9

Article number

a9136

Department affiliated with

  • BSMS Neuroscience Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Publications
  • Sussex Neuroscience Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-06-07

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-06-15

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-06-06

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