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Flanker paradigm contains conflict and distraction factors with distinct neural mechanisms: an ERP analysis in a 2-1 mapping task

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Abstract

Behavioral studies using the flanker 2-1 mapping task suggest that both stimulus and response conflicts contribute to flanker conflict effect. However, both are intertwined with distraction effect. Their underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. We applied a perceptual flanker 2-1 mapping task to 24 healthy young adults, while the event-related potentials were recorded. The task included stimulus-incongruent (SI), response-incongruent (RI), congruent (CO) and neutral (NE) stimuli. Our reaction time data demonstrated conflict effect, distraction effect and their interaction. Furthermore, the conflict factor successively enhanced the frontal P2 (160–240 ms), the posterior N2pc (200–240 ms), the fronto-central and the right frontal N2b (240–420 ms), and the posterior N2c (320–420 ms). Only the frontal P2 was larger for RI than SI. The distraction factor increased the right N2pc and reduced the left parietal P3b (460–480 ms). Overall, our findings suggested that the flanker conflict involved an early attentional processing of task-relevant and distractive information, and a later processing of conflict evaluation and response inhibition.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on this manuscript. This research was supported by Grants from the Nature Science Foundation of China (81200962) and the President Foundation of Nanfang Hospital at Southern Medical University (No. 2014Z009).

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  1. Shu Zhou and Shenglan Xiong have contributed equally and are considered as co-first-authors.

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  1. Department of Neurology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Shu Zhou, Shenglan Xiong & Wenwen Cheng

  2. Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University (Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research), Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    You Wang

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  1. Shu Zhou
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11571_2019_9529_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Grand average ERP waveforms (from − 100 to 600 ms) are shown for 19 electrodes across all trial types, from the 24 subjects. The blue, green, red and purple traces correspond to group average ERP of the NE, CO, SI and RI conditions respectively. The baseline ERP measurement is the mean amplitude of 100 ms pre-stimulus interval. (TIFF 46 kb)

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Zhou, S., Xiong, S., Cheng, W. et al. Flanker paradigm contains conflict and distraction factors with distinct neural mechanisms: an ERP analysis in a 2-1 mapping task. Cogn Neurodyn 13, 341–356 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-019-09529-w

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