Behavioral theta oscillations in cross-modal stimulus conflict and response conflict processing

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.0467

Abstract

Abstract: Theta oscillations are closely associated with cognitive control. Accumulating evidence indicates their involvement in processing both cross-modal stimulus conflict and response conflict. However, the relationship between theta oscillations and the magnitude of these conflicts remains unclear. Research on behavioral oscillations, which shows that theta rhythms are linked to periodic patterns in behavioral performance, provides a novel perspective for investigating how theta oscillations are related to the magnitude of cross-modal stimulus conflict and response conflict.
To address this issue, we used an audiovisual Stroop task with a 2-to-1 stimulus-response mapping and a time-resolved behavioral approach. Given previous evidence that sensory modality modulates theta oscillations during cross-modal stimulus conflict and response conflict processing, we designed two distinct tasks. In Experiment 1 (N = 43), participants responded to auditory stimuli while ignoring visual distractors (auditory task). In Experiment 2 (N = 40), participants responded to visual stimuli while ignoring auditory distractors (visual task). This design allowed us to investigate the relationship between theta oscillations and the magnitude of cross-modal stimulus and response conflicts in the auditory and visual tasks, respectively.
The results demonstrated that the rhythmic processing of task-relevant stimuli was modulated by task-irrelevant stimuli. When the task-irrelevant stimuli were either the same as or different from the task-relevant stimuli (including both stimulus and response incongruency), response times exhibited rhythmic fluctuations in the theta band (4~7.5 Hz). In contrast, when task-irrelevant stimuli were neutral, the processing was characterized by oscillations in the alpha band (9.4~10 Hz). Furthermore, we found that the magnitude of the cross-modal response conflict itself fluctuated rhythmically at a theta frequency (3.8 Hz) in the auditory task, whereas the magnitude of the cross-modal stimulus conflict fluctuated rhythmically at a theta frequency (5.6 Hz) in the visual task.
In summary, the present study demonstrates that cognitive control processes exhibit theta oscillations at the behavioral level, which directly modulate the magnitude of cross-modal stimulus conflict and response conflict. These findings elucidate the relationship between theta oscillations and conflict magnitude, and extend the rhythmic theory of attention to the domain of cognitive control in conflict processing.

Key words: cross-modal, stimulus conflict, response conflict, behavioral oscillation, theta

CLC Number:

B842

XU Honghui, XU Yiran, YANG Guochun, NAN Weizhi, LIU Xun. (2026). Behavioral theta oscillations in cross-modal stimulus conflict and response conflict processing. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(3), 467-479.

References

[1] Appelbaum L. G., Boehler C. N., Davis L. A., Won R. J., & Woldorff M. G. (2014). The Dynamics of proactive and reactive cognitive control processes in the human Brain.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(5), 1021-1038.
[2] Augustinova M., Silvert L., Spatola N., & Ferrand L. (2018). Further investigation of distinct components of Stroop interference and of their reduction by short response- stimulus intervals.Acta Psychologica, 189, 54-62.
[3] Burca M., Beaucousin V., Chausse P., Ferrand L., Parris B. A., & Augustinova M. (2021). Is there semantic conflict in the Stroop task?Experimental Psychology, 68(5), 274-283.
[4] Chen, Q., & Zhou, X. L. (2013). Vision dominates at the preresponse level and audition dominates at the response level in cross-modal interaction: Behavioral and neural evidence.The Journal of Neuroscience, 33(17), 7109-7121.
[5] Cohen, M. X., & Cavanagh, J. F. (2011). Single-trial regression elucidates the role of prefrontal theta oscillations in response conflict.Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 30.
[6] Cohen, M. X., & Donner, T. H. (2013). Midfrontal conflict- related theta-band power reflects neural oscillations that predict behavior.Journal of Neurophysiology, 110(12), 2752-2763.
[7] De Cheveigné, A., & Arzounian, D. (2018). Robust detrending, rereferencing, outlier detection, and inpainting for multichannel data.NeuroImage, 172, 903-912.
[8] De Houwer, J. (2003). On the role of stimulus-response and stimulus-stimulus compatibility in the Stroop effect.Memory & Cognition, 31(3), 353-359.
[9] Donohue S. E., Appelbaum L. G., Park C. J., Roberts K. C., & Woldorff M. G. (2013). Cross-modal stimulus conflict: The behavioral effects of stimulus input timing in a visual-auditory Stroop task.PloS One, 8(4), e62802.
[10] Dugué, L., & VanRullen, R. (2017). Transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals intrinsic perceptual and attentional rhythms.Frontiers in Neuroscience, 11, 154.
[11] Efron, B., & Gong, G. (1983). A leisurely look at the bootstrap, the jackknife, and cross-validation. The American Statistician, 37(1), 36-48.
[12] Egner, T. (2008). Multiple conflict-driven control mechanisms in the human brain.Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(10), 374-380.
[13] Fiebelkorn, I. C., & Kastner, S. (2019). A rhythmic theory of attention.Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(2), 87-101.
[14] Fiebelkorn I. C., Saalmann Y. B., & Kastner S. (2013). Rhythmic sampling within and between objects despite sustained attention at a cued location. Current Biology, 23(24), 2553-2558.
[15] Haciahmet C. C., Frings C., Beste C., Münchau A., & Pastötter B. (2023). Posterior delta/theta EEG activity as an early signal of Stroop conflict detection.Psychophysiology, 60(3), e14195.
[16] Haciahmet C. C., Frings C., & Pastötter B. (2021). Target amplification and distractor inhibition: Theta oscillatory dynamics of selective attention in a flanker task.Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 21(2), 355-371.
[17] Helfrich R. F., Fiebelkorn I. C., Szczepanski S. M., Lin J. J., Parvizi J., Knight R. T., & Kastner S. (2018). Neural mechanisms of sustained attention are rhythmic.Neuron, 99(4), 854-865.
[18] Ho H. T., Burr D. C., Alais D., & Morrone M. C. (2019). Auditory perceptual history is propagated through alpha oscillations.Current Biology, 29(24), 4208-4217.
[19] Hommel, B. (2019). Theory of Event Coding (TEC) V2. 0: Representing and controlling perception and action.Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81(7), 2139-2154.
[20] Huang Y., Chen L., & Luo H. (2015). Behavioral oscillation in priming: Competing perceptual predictions conveyed in alternating theta-band rhythms.Journal of Neuroscience, 35(6), 2830-2837.
[21] Jia J. R., Fan Y., & Luo H. (2022). Alpha-band phase modulates bottom-up feature processing.Cerebral Cortex, 32(6), 1260-1268.
[22] Jia J. R., Liu L., Fang F., & Luo H. (2017). Sequential sampling of visual objects during sustained attention.PloS Biology, 15(6), e2001903.
[23] Jiang J., Zhang Q. L., & Van Gaal S. (2015). EEG neural oscillatory dynamics reveal semantic and response conflict at difference levels of conflict awareness.Scientific Reports, 5(1), 12008.
[24] Kienitz R., Schmid M. C., & Dugué L. (2022). Rhythmic sampling revisited: Experimental paradigms and neural mechanisms.European Journal of Neuroscience, 55(11- 12), 3010-3024.
[25] Landau, A. N., & Fries, P. (2012). Attention samples stimuli rhythmically.Current Biology, 22(11), 1000-1004.
[26] Liu, L., & Luo, H. (2019). Behavioral oscillation in global/ local processing: Global alpha oscillations mediate global precedence effect.Journal of Vision, 19(5), 12.
[27] Michel R., Dugué L., & Busch N. A. (2022). Distinct contributions of alpha and theta rhythms to perceptual and attentional sampling.European Journal of Neuroscience, 55(11-12), 3025-3039.
[28] Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function.Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24(1), 167-202.
[29] Mo C., Lu J. S., Wu B. C., Jia J. R., Luo H., & Fang F. (2019). Competing rhythmic neural representations of orientations during concurrent attention to multiple orientation features. Nature Communications, 10(1), 5264.
[30] Nieuwenhuis, S., & Yeung, N. (2005). Neural mechanisms of attention and control: Losing our inhibitions?Nature Neuroscience, 8(12), 1631-1633.
[31] Nigbur R., Cohen M. X., Ridderinkhof K. R., & Stürmer B. (2012). Theta dynamics reveal domain-specific control over stimulus and response conflict.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24(5), 1264-1274.
[32] Nigbur R., Ivanova G., & Stürmer B. (2011). Theta power as a marker for cognitive interference.Clinical Neurophysiology, 122(11), 2185-2194.
[33] Plöchl M., Fiebelkorn I., Kastner S., & Obleser J. (2022). Attentional sampling of visual and auditory objects is captured by theta‐modulated neural activity.European Journal of Neuroscience, 55(11-12), 3067-3082.
[34] Pomper, U., & Ansorge, U. (2021). Theta-rhythmic oscillation of working memory performance.Psychological Science, 32(11), 1801-1810.
[35] Re D., Inbar M., Richter C. G., & Landau A. N. (2019). Feature-based attention samples stimuli rhythmically.Current Biology, 29(4), 693-699.
[36] Senoussi M., Moreland J. C., Busch N. A., & Dugué L. (2019). Attention explores space periodically at the theta frequency.Journal of Vision, 19(5), 22.
[37] Senoussi M., Verbeke P., Desender K., De Loof E., Talsma D., & Verguts T. (2022). Theta oscillations shift towards optimal frequency for cognitive control.Nature Human Behaviour, 6(7), 1000-1013.
[38] Song K., Meng M., Chen L., Zhou K., & Luo H. (2014). Behavioral oscillations in attention: Rhythmic α pulses mediated through θ band.Journal of Neuroscience, 34(14), 4837-4844.
[39] Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6), 643-662.
[40] Tomassini A., Ambrogioni L., Medendorp W. P., & Maris E. (2017). Theta oscillations locked to intended actions rhythmically modulate perception.Elife, 6, e25618.
[41] van Veen, V., & Carter, C. S. (2005). Separating semantic conflict and response conflict in the Stroop task: A functional MRI study.NeuroImage, 27(3), 497-504.
[42] Wang C., Li H., Jia L., Li F., & Wang J. (2020). Theta band behavioral fluctuations synchronized interpersonally during cooperation.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 27(3), 563-570.
[43] Xu H. H., Yang G. C., Göschl F., Nolte G., Ren Q. Y., Li Z. H., .. & Liu X. (2024). Distinct and common mechanisms of cross-model semantic conflict and response conflict in an auditory relevant task. Cerebral Cortex, 34(3), bhae105.
[44] Xu H. H., Yang G. C., Wu H. Y., Xiao J., Li Q., & Liu X. (2024). Distinct mechanisms underlying cross-modal semantic conflict and response conflict processing. Cerebral Cortex, 34(2), bhad539.
[45] Yang Y., Qi Z. Y., Zhang K. H., & Luo W. B. (2019). Behavioral oscillations and their performance in attention and perception. Chinese Science Bulletin, 64(5), 546-554.
[杨阳, 齐正阳, 张珂烨, 罗文波. (2019). 行为振荡:揭示心理过程动态变化的新现象.科学通报, 64(5), 546-554.]
[46] Zhang, H., & Kornblum, S. (1998). The effects of stimulus- response mapping and irrelevant stimulus-response and stimulus-stimulus overlap in four-choice Stroop tasks with single-carrier stimuli.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24(1), 3-19.
[47] Zhang X. D., Zhang L. J., Ding Y. L., & Qu Z. (2021). Behavioral oscillations in attentional processing.Advances in Psychological Science, 29(3), 460-471.
[章小丹, 张沥今, 丁玉珑, 曲折. (2021). 注意过程中的行为振荡现象.心理科学进展, 29(3), 460-471.]