Parietal cortex is recruited by frontal and cingulate areas to support action monitoring and updating during stopping

Abstract

Recent evidence indicates that the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) may play a causal role in action stopping, potentially representing a novel neuromodulation target for inhibitory control dysfunctions. Here, we leverage intracranial recordings in human subjects to establish the timing and directionality of information flow between IPS and prefrontal and cingulate regions during action stopping. Prior to successful inhibition, information flows primarily from the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), a critical inhibitory control node, to IPS. In contrast, during stopping errors the communication between IPS and IFG is lacking, and IPS is engaged by posterior cingulate cortex, an area outside of the classical inhibition network and typically associated with default mode. Anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex also display performance-dependent connectivity with IPS. Our functional connectivity results provide direct electrophysiological evidence that IPS is recruited by frontal and anterior cingulate areas to support action plan monitoring/updating, and by posterior cingulate during control failures. In briefFunctional connectivity between the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and a set of frontal and cingulate regions indicates that IPS is recruited to aid inhibitory control. Control failures are associated with increased communication with posterior cingulate. IPS could be a novel and tractable neuromodulation target for control-related neuropsychiatric disorders. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=107 SRC="FIGDIR/small/640787v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (35K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@e04699org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@3b1ea6org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15961f4org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@12e144f_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG HighlightsO_LIParietal cortex displays performance-dependent activity in action stopping C_LIO_LIFunctional connectivity between IPS and IFG underlies successful stopping C_LIO_LIEarly communication from ACC and OFC to IPS is also specific to successful stopping C_LIO_LICommunication from PCC to IPS is higher during lapses in control C_LI