Effects of stimulus onset asynchrony on cognitive control in healthy adults

TL;DR

This study explores how the timing of stimuli affects cognitive control in healthy adults using specific tasks.

Contribution

The study reveals how stimulus onset asynchrony influences single-mode and dual mechanisms of cognitive control.

Findings

Extended SOA improved reaction times in Go trials, indicating better task performance with more preparation time.

No-Go trials showed higher accuracy than Go trials across all SOA levels, suggesting strong inhibition processes.

Proactive control was evident in AY trials with prolonged reaction times, showing strategies to maintain task-relevant information.

Abstract

The efficiency of cognitive control in healthy adults can be influenced by various factors, including the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) effect and strategy training. To address these issues, our study aims to investigate the impact of SOA on single-mode cognitive control using the Go/No-Go task, as well as the manifestation of proactive control within dual mechanisms of cognitive control through the AX-CPT task. In single-mode cognitive control, extending SOA led to significantly enhanced reaction times (RTs) during Go trials, suggesting improved task performance with increased preparation time. Moreover, the analysis revealed consistently higher accuracy rates in No-Go trials than to Go trials across all SOA levels, indicating robust inhibition processes unaffected by SOA variations. In the dual mechanisms of cognitive control, significant variations in RT and accuracy were observed among different trial types. Notably, participants exhibited superior performance in detecting targets during BY trials and shorter RTs in BX trials, indicative of efficient processing of target stimuli. Conversely, prolonged RTs in AY trials suggest proactive control strategies aimed at maintaining task-relevant information and inhibiting irrelevant responses. Overall, these findings highlight the effect of SOA on single-mode cognitive control and the emergence of proactive control within dual mechanisms of cognitive control in healthy adults.

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