Executive inhibition in mental arithmetic

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured to investigate the executive inhibitory processes in mental arithmetic. Subjects had to compute arithmetic expressions visually presented in four chunks. ERP analyses were conducted for the second chunk comparing the "NoCalculate" to the "Calculate" conditions. In the Calculate condition subjects could compute intermediate results. In the NoCalculate condition subjects had to withhold the computation. The results showed a negative effect (N380) over frontocentral regions at about 380 ms, probably reflecting the calculation inhibition demand in the NoCalculate condition. In addition, the dN380 (NoCalculate-Calculate difference) was more pronounced in the right hemisphere, which is consistent with the findings of previous fMRI and PET studies that the right prefrontal cortex is closely associated with response inhibition. The results support the generalization of the frontocentral N2 as a neurobehavioral tool for investigating inhibitory executive control.