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The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the inhibition of stereotyped responses

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Abstract

Stereotyped behaviors should be inhibited under some circumstances in order to encourage appropriate behavior. Psychiatrists have used the modified rock-paper-scissors (RPS) task to examine the inhibition of stereotyped behavior. When subjects are required to lose in response to a gesture, it is difficult for them to lose, and they have a tendency to win involuntarily. It is thought that the win response is the stereotyped response in the RPS task, and the difficulty in making positive attempts to lose is due to the requirement for inhibition of the stereotyped response. In this study, we investigated the brain regions related to inhibition of the stereotyped response using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects were assigned to one of two groups: the “win group” or the “lose group.” The lose group showed higher activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLFPC) when compared to the win group. We also delivered transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) while the subjects performed the modified RPS task to investigate whether the left DLPFC (middle frontal gyrus, Brodmann area, BA 9) was directly involved in the inhibition of the stereotyped response. When TMS was delivered before onset of the visual stimulus, the subjects displayed increased response errors. In particular, the subjects had a tendency to win erroneously in a lose condition even though they were required to lose. These results indicate involvement of the left DLPFC in inhibition of the stereotyped responses, which suggests that this region is associated with inhibition of the preparatory setting for stereotyped responses rather than inhibition of ongoing processing to produce a stereotyped response.

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Acknowledgment

This study was partly supported by KAKENHI (21670004) and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (200626008A and 200713003A).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation for Sensory Functions, Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8555, Japan

    Hiroshi Kadota, Hirofumi Sekiguchi, Shigeki Takeuchi, Yutaka Kohno & Yasoichi Nakajima

  2. Course of Functional Control Systems, Graduate School of Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology, 307 Fukasaku, Minuma-ku, Saitama-city, Saitama, 337-8570, Japan

    Hiroshi Kadota

  3. Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Hiroshi Kadota

  4. Faculty of Business and Information Sciences, Jobu University, 634-1, Toyatsuka-machi, Isesaki, Gunma, 372-8588, Japan

    Hirofumi Sekiguchi & Shigeki Takeuchi

  5. Research Institute of Kochi University of Technology, 185 Miyanokuchi, Tosayamada, Kochi, 782-8502, Japan

    Makoto Miyazaki

  6. Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, 4733 Ami, Ami-machi, Inashiki, Ibaraki, 300-0331, Japan

    Yutaka Kohno

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  1. Hiroshi Kadota
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  2. Hirofumi Sekiguchi
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  3. Shigeki Takeuchi
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  4. Makoto Miyazaki
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  5. Yutaka Kohno
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  6. Yasoichi Nakajima
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Kadota.

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Kadota, H., Sekiguchi, H., Takeuchi, S. et al. The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the inhibition of stereotyped responses. Exp Brain Res 203, 593–600 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2269-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2269-4

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