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. 2016 Aug 26:6:32234.
doi: 10.1038/srep32234.

Hierarchical effects on target detection and conflict monitoring

Bihua Cao  1 , Feng Gao  2 , Maofang Ren  1 , Fuhong Li  1   2
Affiliations

Hierarchical effects on target detection and conflict monitoring

Bihua Cao et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Previous neuroimaging studies have demonstrated a hierarchical functional structure of the frontal cortices of the human brain, but the temporal course and the electrophysiological signature of the hierarchical representation remains unaddressed. In the present study, twenty-one volunteers were asked to perform a nested cue-target task, while their scalp potentials were recorded. The results showed that: (1) in comparison with the lower-level hierarchical targets, the higher-level targets elicited a larger N2 component (220-350 ms) at the frontal sites, and a smaller P3 component (350-500 ms) across the frontal and parietal sites; (2) conflict-related negativity (non-target minus target) was greater for the lower-level hierarchy than the higher-level, reflecting a more intensive process of conflict monitoring at the final step of target detection. These results imply that decision making, context updating, and conflict monitoring differ among different hierarchical levels of abstraction.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Illustration of the task hierarchy.
Participants responded to circles based upon a nested series of context cues. The data for the underlined letters were not analyzed since participants had identified the sequence as non-targets before the appearance of these letters.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Grand average (n = 21) ERP waveforms for four conditions (higher-level target, lower-level target, higher-level non-target, lower-level non-target) at the selected electrode sites.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The peak latencies and amplitudes (across all 24 electrodes) of N2 and P3 under different conditions.
(a) results of N2 latency; (b) results of N2 amplitude; (c) results of P3 latency; (d) results of P3 amplitude. *denotes p < 0.05; **denotes p < 0.01.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Hierarchy effect on targets and non-targets.
Left panel: Difference waves (higher-level minus lower-level) and topographies for targets. Right panel: Difference waves (higher-level minus lower-level) and topographies for non-targets.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Type effect at higher- and lower-level hierarchies.
Left panel: Difference waves (non-target minus target) and topographies at higher-level hierarchies. Right panel: Difference waves (non-target minus target) and topographies at lower-level hierarchies.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Experimental procedure for one trial.
Each blank interval lasted 800–1200 ms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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