Cited by 474Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeural dynamics and brain functionNeurological disorders and treatments

Intracranial EEG reveals a time- and frequency-specific role for the right inferior frontal gyrus and primary motor cortex in stopping initiated responses

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Swann, Nicole, Tandon, Nitin, Canolty, Ryan, Ellmore, Timothy M., McEvoy, Linda K., Dreyer, Stephen, DiSano, Michael, Aron, Adam R.·2009·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Inappropriate response tendencies may be stopped via a specific fronto/basal ganglia/primary motor cortical network. We sought to characterize the functional role of two regions in this putative stopping network, the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the primary motor cortex (M1), using electocorticography from subdural electrodes in four patients while they performed a stop-signal task. On each trial, a motor response was initiated, and on a minority of trials a stop signal instructed the patient to try to stop the response. For each patient, there was a greater right IFG response in the beta frequency band (∼16 Hz) for successful versus unsuccessful stop trials. This finding adds to evidence for a functional network for stopping because changes in beta frequency activity have also been observed in the basal ganglia in association with behavioral stopping. In addition, the right IFG response occurred 100–250 ms after the stop signal, a time range consistent with a putative inhibitory control process rather than with stop-signal processing or feedback regarding success. A downstream target of inhibitory control is M1. In each patient, there was alpha/beta band desynchronization in M1 for stop trials. However, the degree of desynchronization in M1 was less for successfully than unsuccessfully stopped trials. This reduced desynchronization on successful stop trials could relate to increased GABA inhibition in M1. Together with other findings, the results suggest that behavioral stopping is implemented via synchronized activity in the beta frequency band in a right IFG/basal ganglia network, with downstream effects on M1.

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Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.3359-09.2009

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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.

    “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].”

    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 [219]

    The Abstract reports greater right inferior frontal beta activity and less motor-cortex alpha/beta desynchronization on successful than unsuccessful stop trials. But the Participants section says the intracranial EEG study involved four patients with medically refractory epilepsy, not healthy participants. The Discussion also cautions that the right frontal response may reflect attentional or memory processes rather than inhibitory control itself. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • 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.

    “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 [219]

    The Discussion (page not specified) links increased beta power in the right inferior frontal gyrus to response inhibition and proposes beta-band communication within an inhibitory-control network. It does not describe beta oscillations as maintaining the status quo or reducing the flexibility of action systems, so those parts of the sentence are not supported by this source. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • 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.

    “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 [219]

    The Discussion (page unavailable in our copy) links increased right inferior frontal beta power to response inhibition, supporting the inhibitory-processing possibility. It does not address stronger or sustained inhibition, delayed release from post-error control, or persistence of a cognitive–motor set. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Gamma power/spiking is anticorrelated with alpha/beta (8 to 30 Hz) power, which is higher under conditions of top-down control (e.g., attention and response inhibition).

    “They are anticorrelated with alpha/beta (8 to 30 Hz) power (26–29), which is higher under conditions of top-down control (e.g., attention and response inhibition) (30–34).”

    From Layer and rhythm specificity for predictive routing (2020) · cites this paper as [34]

    The Discussion (page not provided) reports increased right inferior frontal beta power during response inhibition, particularly on successful stop trials. It does not establish higher alpha/beta power during attention or across top-down-control conditions generally. This citation is attached to the second clause; the anticorrelation claim has separate citations. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Swann, N., Tandon, N., Canolty, R., Ellmore, T. M., McEvoy, L. K., Dreyer, S., DiSano, M., & Aron, A. R.
Affiliations
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2009-10-07
Volume
29
Issue
40
Pages
12675-12685
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2095401753
Cited by
474
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 26
FWCI
10.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Commons-TMC (Texas Medical Center) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA026452)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024148)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Neurological disorders and treatments
Keywords
response inhibition, stopping, stop-signal task, right inferior frontal gyrus, primary motor cortex, beta oscillations, basal ganglia, inhibitory control, GABAergic inhibition, electrocorticography, subdural electrodes
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Basal Ganglia, Beta Rhythm, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Electroencephalography, Epilepsy, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Motor Cortex, Nerve Net, Young Adult

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