The Role of Conjunctive Representations in Stopping Actions
通过脑电图分析，发现联合表征的强度能预测停止动作的成功率，且这些表征在停止信号出现后被选择性抑制，对理解动作控制机制有重要意义。
Action selection appears to rely on conjunctive representations that nonlinearly integrate task-relevant features. Here, we tested a corollary of this hypothesis: that such representations are also intricately involved during attempts to stop an action—a key aspect of action regulation. We tracked both conjunctive representations and those of constituent rule, stimulus, or response features through trial-by-trial representational similarity analysis of the electroencephalogram signal in a combined rule-selection and stop-signal paradigm. Across two experiments with student participants ( N = 57), we found (a) that the strength of decoded conjunctive representations prior to the stop signal uniquely predicted trial-by-trial stopping success (Experiment 1) and (b) that these representations were selectively suppressed following the onset of the stop signal (Experiments 1 and 2). We conclude that conjunctive representations are key to successful action execution and therefore need to be suppressed when an intended action is no longer appropriate.