Effect Of Arousal Level Change On Inhibition Control

The executive function is closely related to the activation of the locus coeruleus norepinephrine(LC-NE)system.The activation of the LC-NE system reflects changes in arousal levels,and inhibitory control,as an important component of executive function,is closely related to an individual’s arousal level.Individuals are prone to fatigue and drowsiness during continuous work,which are important factors affecting work efficiency and leading to safety accidents.As is well known,individuals are unable to perform laborious tasks when fatigued and drowsy,and problem-solving strategies may differ from when awake.However,some studies have proposed a new viewpoint that even when individuals’ overall actions become slow in a state of drowsiness,due to the principle of neural recombination,the brain will rebuild its cognitive network and actively adopt similar coping measures as in a state of wakefulness,still maintaining a high level of performance.At present,the regulation of arousal level changes on inhibition control is mostly focused on sleep deprivation,sleep disorders and circadian rhythm,but less on normal waking fluctuations.Based on this,this study adopts a method of dividing inhibition control into two levels: reaction inhibition and conflict inhibition,and combines resting state EEG and task state to explore the impact of changes in arousal level on inhibition control.Study 1 used the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to screen individuals who were prone to falling asleep,and combined with EEG technology to explore the changes in brain arousal levels of individuals who were prone to falling asleep during closed eye rest.On the basis of study one,studies two and three examine the impact of changes in arousal levels on inhibitory control under the task state of the subjects.Study 2 combines EEG technology with auditory Go/No go tasks to investigate the impact of arousal level on response inhibition behavior and EEG amplitude.Through Study 2,the relationship between changes in arousal level and response inhibition is explored.Study 3 explores the impact of changes in arousal level on conflict suppression.A joint experimental task was designed based on the research logic of auditory spatial Stroop and auditory Simon tasks,which can simultaneously measure auditory spatial Stroop and auditory Simon conflicts.Based on Study 2,the impact of changes in arousal level on inhibition control was further explored.The specific research results are as follows:The results of study 1 showed that the levels of brain arousal were different between easy sleepers and healthy sleepers in the closed eye resting state,and the absolute power of the alpha frequency band in the easy sleepers group was significantly lower than that in the healthy sleepers group.Compared to healthy sleepers,those who are prone to sleep in a closed eye resting state have lower levels of arousal.The behavioral results of Study 2 found that the response inhibition ability in the conscious state was better,specifically manifested as: the individual’s response time in the Go trial was faster in the conscious state,and the error rate in the Nogo trial was lower.The EEG results showed that the conscious state induced a more negative N2 amplitude,exhibiting a certain degree of response inhibition ability;However,there was no significant difference between the N2 and P3 differential waves in the conscious state and the drowsy state.The behavioral results of study three found that the conflict suppression ability in the conscious state is better,specifically manifested as: individuals in the conscious state have faster reaction times and lower error rates.The EEG results showed that the conscious state induced more negative N450 and larger SP amplitudes,exhibiting a certain degree of conflict suppression ability;However,the difference in N450 and SP differential waves between the conscious state and the drowsy state is not significant,which may be due to the number of task attempts,task complexity,and neural recombination principles.The above results indicate that changes in arousal level have a certain impact on inhibitory control.Overall,consistent with the inverted U-shaped law,individuals have the best inhibitory control ability in a clear state;As the level of arousal decreases,individuals have poorer inhibitory and control abilities in a state of drowsiness.However,due to the principle of neural recombination,subjects do not completely lose their ability to judge and respond in a state of drowsiness.Reducing arousal levels may reconfigure certain aspects of cognitive function while maintaining important inhibitory control processes.The brain still maintains a high level of performance in a state of drowsiness.In recent years,many studies have drawn inconsistent conclusions,providing new ideas and perspectives for exploring the regulation of inhibitory control by changes in arousal levels.