Neural correlates of response inhibition and error processing in individuals with mild traumatic brain injury: An event-related potential study

Individuals with a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) often have executive control deficits; however, the underlying neural mechanisms of such deficits are yet to be clarified. Inhibitory control and cognitive monitoring are two fundamental aspects of executive control processes. This study investigated the executive control of mTBI by using the Stop-signal task. Eighteen adults with mTBI and 18 age-, sex-, and education level-matched controls were recruited. Behavioral performance and event-related potential correlates of response inhibition and error processing were compared between groups. The mTBI group tended to have a lower probability of inhibition and a longer stop signal reaction time. N1 amplitude was greater on successful trials. Also on successful trials, N2 and P3 peaked earlier than on failed trials. The N2 amplitude of the mTBI group tended to be smaller than that of the controls. The control group had larger P3 amplitude on successful trials than on failed trials, whereas the mTBI group exhibited no P3 amplitudes difference between the two trial types. In addition, the mTBI group showed significantly longer error positivity latency than did the controls. These results suggest that inhibitory control and error processing were inefficient in the mTB group even more than three months after injury. Electrophysiological markers of cognitive dysfunction can be used as a sensitive tool for determining executive control after mTBI.