Go/No-Go Performance is Related to White Matter Microstructure in a Broad Range of Regions

• Main Author: Hinton, Kendra Elise
• Other Authors: Neil Woodward
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: VANDERBILT 2015
• Subjects: Psychology
• Online Access: http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07162015-131050/

Go/no-go tasks have been widely used to index response selection and inhibition (Garavan, Ross, & Stein, 1999). Complex versions of these tasks require additional skills such as quick processing speed (Garavan et al., 1999). Difficulties with go/no-go task performance have been associated with impulsive behavior (Dalley, Everitt, & Robbins, 2011). Functional neuroimaging studies have identified a neural circuit that is involved in successful task performance (Chambers, Garavan, & Bellgrove, 2009). Structural connectivity between regions in this circuit, as indexed by metrics of white matter microstructure, also plays an important role (King et al., 2012). Previous studies have been largely confined to convenience samples that may not be representative of the larger population. They are also often limited to analysis only of inhibition components of the task. In the present study we examined the relationship between performance on a challenging variant of the go/no-go task and indices of white matter microstructure in a community sample of 161 subjects with a wide range of psychopathology. D-prime and hit rate were related to white matter microstructure in a wide range of regions. Processing speed was also related to behavioral performance and white matter microstructure. Substance use problems were modestly related to task performance and white matter metrics. Contrary to predictions, no relationship was observed between false alarm rate and white matter microstructure. Overall, these findings suggest that a general factor of white matter integrity is related to processing speed and go/no-go task performance.