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Establishing a Right Frontal Beta Signature for Stopping Action in Scalp EEG: Implications for Testing Inhibitory Control in Other Task Contexts
Open accessAbstract
Many studies have examined the rapid stopping of action as a proxy of human self-control. Several methods have shown that a critical focus for stopping is the right inferior frontal cortex. Moreover, electrocorticography studies have shown beta band power increases in the right inferior frontal cortex and in the BG for successful versus failed stop trials, before the time of stopping elapses, perhaps underpinning a prefrontal–BG network for inhibitory control. Here, we tested whether the same signature might be visible in scalp electroencephalography (EEG)—which would open important avenues for using this signature in studies of the recruitment and timing of prefrontal inhibitory control. We used independent component analysis and time–frequency approaches to analyze EEG from three different cohorts of healthy young volunteers (48 participants in total) performing versions of the standard stop signal task. We identified a spectral power increase in the band 13–20 Hz that occurs after the stop signal, but before the time of stopping elapses, with a right frontal topography in the EEG. This right frontal beta band increase was significantly larger for successful compared with failed stops in two of the three studies. We also tested the hypothesis that unexpected events recruit the same frontal system for stopping. Indeed, we show that the stopping-related right-lateralized frontal beta signature was also active after unexpected events (and we accordingly provide data and scripts for the method). These results validate a right frontal beta signature in the EEG as a temporally precise and functionally significant neural marker of the response inhibition process.
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“In the broader EEG literature, beta oscillations have been associated with maintenance of the status quo, motor inhibition, top-down control, and reduced flexibility of action systems [218,219,220,221].”
From Electrophysiological Correlates of Cognitive Dysfunction in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A Systematic and Mechanistic Review of EEG, ERP, and QEEG Evidence (2026) · cites this paper as [221]
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“Beta abnormalities may be related to stronger or more sustained inhibitory processing, delayed release from post-error control states, or persistence of the current cognitive–motor set [218,219,221].”
From Electrophysiological Correlates of Cognitive Dysfunction in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A Systematic and Mechanistic Review of EEG, ERP, and QEEG Evidence (2026) · cites this paper as [221]
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“In healthy inhibitory-control studies, right frontal and motor beta activity has been linked to successful stopping and suppression of initiated responses [219,220,221].”
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“Previous scalp qEEG studies reported increased power in delta, theta, and beta frequency bands at right frontal electrodes with successful stopping within a stop signal task,39, 40 suggesting a significant association between right frontal cortex and inhibitory control.”
From Double-blind, sham-controlled, pilot study of trigeminal nerve stimulation for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (2019) · cites this paper as [40]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wagner, J., Wessel, J. R., Ghahremani, A., & Aron, A. R.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Venue
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Published
- 2018-01
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 107-118
- ISSN
- 0898-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1530-8898
- PMC
- PMC5908247
- OpenAlex
- W2751755304
- Cited by
- 112
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 4.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA026452)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Free Will and Agency
- Keywords
- inhibitory control, stop-signal task, response inhibition, self-control, right inferior frontal cortex, unexpected events, neural markers
- MeSH terms
- Beta Rhythm, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Motor Activity, Neuropsychological Tests, Scalp, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Young Adult
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