Left anterior cingulate activity predicts intra-individual reaction time variability in healthy adults

Abstract

Within-subject, or intra-individual, variability in reaction time (RT) is increasingly recognised as an important indicator of the efficiency of attentional control, yet there have been few investigations of the neural correlates of trial-to-trial RT variability in healthy adults. We sought to determine the neural correlates of intra-individual RT variability during a go/no-go response inhibition task in 27 healthy, male participants. We found that reduced trial-to-trial RT variability (i.e. greater response stability) was significantly associated with greater activation in the left pregenual anterior cingulate. These results support the role of the left anterior cingulate in the dynamic control of attention and efficient response selection. Greater understanding of intra-individual RT variability and top-down attentional control in healthy adults may help to inform disorders that impact executive/attentional control, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia.