Partial response electromyography as a marker of the individual stopping latency

Abstract

AbstractResponse inhibition is among the core constructs of cognitive control. It is notoriously difficult to quantify from overt behavior, since the outcome of successful inhibition is the lack of a behavioral response. Therefore, model-based approaches have been developed to estimate the inhibition latency, such as the stop signal reaction time (SSRT) using the stop signal task. However, the model assumptions underlying the SSRT can be difficult to meet in practice. Recently, partial response electromyography (prEMG) has been introduced as a physiological measure to capture individual stopping latencies. PrEMG refers to muscle activity initiated by the go signal that plummets after the stop signal, before its accumulation to a full response. We provide a comprehensive overview of prEMG in a stop signal task, together with practical tips for data collection and analysis. Our analysis indicates that prEMG is a unique and reliable measure of stopping and we encourage its widespread use to investigate response inhibition.