Theta, Alpha and Beta Band Modulations During Auditory Condensation Task Performance

Abstract

Outcome of a behavioral response can be detected either internally at the time of the response commission, or externally through a feedback signal. In both cases, a number of brain networks that subserve cognitive control are recruited, all networks having certain distinctive signatures in electroencephalographic oscillations. Yet most studies in the field have several limitations. First, typical behavioral tasks depend heavily upon inhibition of prepotent responses – thus they mostly exploit control of the motor threshold rather than the full range of processes related to cognitive control. Second, these studies were conducted in the visual modality, leaving it unclear whether the oscillatory phenomena found in these studies truly relate to cognitive control or they reflect effects specific to the tasks used. Here, we studied outcome-related adjustments by analyzing response-related and feedback-related modulations of theta, alpha, and beta band activity in the auditory version of the condensation task, which bears no inherent dependence upon inhibition of prepotent responses and which is administered in the auditory modality. Frontal midline theta (FMT) activity was enhanced after errors compared with correct trials, and after negative feedback compared with positive feedback. Alpha band suppression in the parieto-occipital region was enhanced in the late post-error interval. Frontal beta oscillatory activity was increased on correct trials during positive feedback onset. These findings indicate that several separate neuronal networks are involved in post-error and post-feedback adjustments: the midfrontal performance monitoring network, the parietal attentional network, and the frontal reward-processing network. Our findings extend the current knowledge concerning the functional role of theta, alpha, and beta band oscillations in cognitive control beyond a limited range of tasks and beyond the visual modality.