Abstract
We assessed intra-individual variability of response times (RT) and single-trial P3 amplitudes following targets in healthy adults during a Flanker/NO-GO task. RT variability and variability of the neural responses coupled at the faster frequencies examined (0.07–0.17 Hz) at Pz, the target-P3 maxima, despite non-significant associations for overall variability (standard deviation, SD). Frequency-specific patterns of variability in the single-trial P3 may help to understand the neurophysiology of RT variability and its explanatory models of attention allocation deficits beyond intra-individual variability summary indices such as SD.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Adamo N, Di Martino A, Esu L et al (2012) Increased response-time variability across different cognitive tasks in children with ADHD. J Atten Disord. doi:10.1177/1087054712439419
Banaschewski T, Brandeis D, Heinrich H, Albrecht B, Brunner E, Rothenberger A (2004) Questioning inhibitory control as the specific deficit of ADHD—evidence from brain electrical activity. J Neural Transm 111:841–864. doi:10.1007/s00702-003-0040-8
Baumeister S, Hohmann S, Wolf I et al (2014) Sequential inhibitory control processes assessed through simultaneous EEG-fMRI. Neuroimage 94:349–359. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.01.023
Blasi G, Goldberg TE, Weickert T et al (2006) Brain regions underlying response inhibition and interference monitoring and suppression. Eur J Neurosci 23:1658–1664. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04680.x
Castellanos FX, Sonuga-Barke EJ, Scheres A, Di Martino A, Hyde C, Walters JR (2005) Varieties of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-related intra-individual variability. Biol Psychiatry 57:1416–1423. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.12.005
Di Martino A, Ghaffari M, Curchack J et al (2008) Decomposing intra-subject variability in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Biol Psychiatry 64:607–614. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.03.008
Feige B, Biscaldi M, Saville CW et al (2013) On the temporal characteristics of performance variability in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). PLoS ONE 8:e69674. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069674
Fornito A, Zalesky A, Bassett DS et al (2011) Genetic influences on cost-efficient organization of human cortical functional networks. J Neurosci 31:3261–3270. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4858-10.2011
Fox MD, Raichle ME (2007) Spontaneous fluctuations in brain activity observed with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Nat Rev Neurosci 8:700–711. doi:10.1038/nrn2201
Kofler MJ, Rapport MD, Sarver DE, Raiker JS, Orban SA, Friedman LM, Kolomeyer EG (2013) Reaction time variability in ADHD: a meta-analytic review of 319 studies. Clin Psychol Rev 33:795–811. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2013.06.001
Kratz O, Studer P, Malcherek S, Erbe K, Moll GH, Heinrich H (2011) Attentional processes in children with ADHD: an event-related potential study using the attention network test. Int J Psychophysiol 81:82–90. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2011.05.008
Lazzaro I, Anderson J, Gordon E, Clarke S, Leong J, Meares R (1997) Single trial variability within the P300 (250–500 ms) processing window in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Psychiatry Res 73:91–101
Leth-Steensen C, Elbaz ZK, Douglas VI (2000) Mean response times, variability, and skew in the responding of ADHD children: a response time distributional approach. Acta Psychol (Amst) 104:167–190
MacDonald SW, Nyberg L, Backman L (2006) Intra-individual variability in behavior: links to brain structure, neurotransmission and neuronal activity. Trends Neurosci 29:474–480. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2006.06.011
Moore RD, Wu CT, Pontifex MB et al (2013) Aerobic fitness and intra-individual variability of neurocognition in preadolescent children. Brain Cogn 82:43–57. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2013.02.006
Nakata H, Sakamoto K, Kakigi R (2012) The relationship between reaction time and response variability and somatosensory No-go potentials. Eur J Appl Physiol 112:207–214. doi:10.1007/s00421-011-1973-5
Penttonen M, Buzsaki G (2003) Natural logarithmic relationship between brain oscillators. Thalamus Relat Syst 2:145–152
Plichta MM, Wolf I, Hohmann S et al (2013) Simultaneous EEG and fMRI reveals a causally connected subcortical-cortical network during reward anticipation. J Neurosci 33:14526–14533. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0631-13.2013
Reinhart RM, Mathalon DH, Roach BJ, Ford JM (2011) Relationships between pre-stimulus gamma power and subsequent P300 and reaction time breakdown in schizophrenia. Int J Psychophysiol 79:16–24. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2010.08.009
Saville CW, Dean RO, Daley D, Intriligator J, Boehm S, Feige B, Klein C (2011) Electrocortical correlates of intra-subject variability in reaction times: average and single-trial analyses. Biol Psychol 87:74–83. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.02.005
Segalowitz SJ, Dywan J, Unsal A (1997) Attentional factors in response time variability after traumatic brain injury: an ERP study. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 3:95–107
Sonuga-Barke EJ, Castellanos FX (2007) Spontaneous attentional fluctuations in impaired states and pathological conditions: a neurobiological hypothesis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 31:977–986. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2007.02.005
Stuss DT, Murphy KJ, Binns MA, Alexander MP (2003) Staying on the job: the frontal lobes control individual performance variability. Brain 126:2363–2380. doi:10.1093/brain/awg237
West R, Murphy KJ, Armilio ML, Craik FI, Stuss DT (2002) Lapses of intention and performance variability reveal age-related increases in fluctuations of executive control. Brain Cogn 49:402–419
Zuo XN, Di Martino A, Kelly C et al (2010) The oscillating brain: complex and reliable. Neuroimage 49:1432–1445. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.09.037
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adamo, N., Baumeister, S., Hohmann, S. et al. Frequency-specific coupling between trial-to-trial fluctuations of neural responses and response-time variability. J Neural Transm 122, 1197–1202 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-015-1382-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-015-1382-8