Behavioral and neural correlates of response inhibition are assumed to manifest in self-reported impulsivity and compulsivity, but findings are inconsistent. Existing studies often examined only isolated components of the complex underlying neural process and used sumscores of impulsivity and compulsivity. Yet, there is evidence suggesting that alterations in response inhibition may be linked to specific subfacets of the multidimensional constructs. Therefore, our aim was twofold: to investigate behavioral and neural correlates of response inhibition in a comprehensive way, and to examine whether these effects are associated with urgency, compulsivity, or the interaction of both. We examined 233 participants who performed a stop-signal task while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. The analysis involved single-trial regression and latency analyses, exploring the relationships with self-reported urgency and compulsivity. Stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) was not related to urgency or compulsivity. SSRT and urgency scores were negatively associated with an attenuated successful inhibition-P3 effect. Crucially, whereas long SSRT was associated with a reduced attention-P1 effect and a later onset and peak of the P3, we observed the opposite pattern for higher urgency with higher P1 related activity and an earlier onset and peak of the successful inhibition-P3. Associations with compulsivity were not observed. The absence of a direct association between urgency and SSRT can possibly be clarified by considering early attentional processes reflected in P1 and latency effects during response inhibition. Urgency appears to be related to increased recruitment of early attention and a faster action cancellation process that may compensate the reduced P3 related activity.

Disorders marked by high levels of impulsivity and compulsivity have been linked to changes in performance monitoring, specifically the error-related negativity (ERN). We investigated the relationship between performance monitoring and individual differences in impulsivity and compulsivity. A total of 142 participants were recruited into four groups, each with different combinations of impulsivity and compulsivity, and they performed a flanker task to assess error-related brain activity. We defined error-related brain activity as ERN amplitude and theta power. Single trial regression was employed to analyze the amplitude differences between incorrect and correct trials within the ERN time window. The findings revealed that impulsivity, compulsivity and different measures of response processing exhibited distinct interactions, which were influenced by the configuration of impulsivity and compulsivity, but also depending on the measure of response processing. Specifically, high compulsivity predicted larger ERN amplitudes in individuals with low impulsivity, whereas high impulsivity had no effect on ERN amplitude in individuals with low compulsivity. Furthermore, when both impulsivity and compulsivity were high, no increase in ERN amplitude was observed; instead, there was a reduced difference between incorrect and correct trials. No significant differences were found for theta power. While the association between error-related brain activity and transdiagnostic markers or psychopathology may be smaller than generally assumed, considering the interaction between different transdiagnostic markers and their facets can enhance our understanding of the complex associations that arise during the investigation of neural correlates of performance monitoring, specifically the ERN.

Heightened impulsivity and compulsivity are often found in association with both dysfunctional everyday behavior as well as with psychopathology. Impulsivity and compulsivity are also linked to alterations in behavioral response inhibition and its electrophysiological correlates. However, they are rarely examined jointly and their effect outside of clinical samples is still disputed. This study assesses the influence and interaction of impulsivity and compulsivity as measured by questionnaires on behavioral performance and event-related potentials (N2, P3a and P3b) in a visual Go/Nogo task. Data from 250 participants from the general population (49% female; age M = 25.16, SD = 5.07; education level: 94% high school or higher; self-reported lifetime diagnosis of any mental disorder: 12%) were collected. We used robust linear regression as well as regression tree analyses, a type of machine learning algorithm, to uncover potential non-linear effects. We did not find any significant relationship between the self-report measures and behavioral or neural inhibition effects in either type of analysis, with the exception of a linear effect of the premeditation scale of the UPPS on behavioral performance. The current sample size was large enough to uncover even small effects. We discuss potential explanations for this current null finding. One possibility is that inhibitory performance was unimpaired in the current sample and that associations between inhibitory performance and self-report measures might only be seen in samples with mental disorders.