Jan R. Wessel
@janw.bsky.social
Clement T. & Sylvia H. Hanson Family Chair, Professor #FirstGen
Cognitive Control Collaborative guy
wessellab.org | cognitivecontrol.net
Cognitive Control Collaborative guy
wessellab.org | cognitivecontrol.net
"We folks" are heartbroken.
We're missing out on impeccable inferences like "if a paper gets cited that means that the task therein is used in cutting-edge research in one specific field."
We're missing out on impeccable inferences like "if a paper gets cited that means that the task therein is used in cutting-edge research in one specific field."
January 25, 2026 at 11:12 PM
"We folks" are heartbroken.
We're missing out on impeccable inferences like "if a paper gets cited that means that the task therein is used in cutting-edge research in one specific field."
We're missing out on impeccable inferences like "if a paper gets cited that means that the task therein is used in cutting-edge research in one specific field."
I don't know what your problem is as far as the tone of these replies goes, but one of your problems seems to be that you think that there is only one type of 'validity' and its 'external validity'. That, frankly, is not my problem.
January 25, 2026 at 11:10 PM
I don't know what your problem is as far as the tone of these replies goes, but one of your problems seems to be that you think that there is only one type of 'validity' and its 'external validity'. That, frankly, is not my problem.
"Response inhibition" and "inhibitory control" aren't synonyms to me, but it's helpful to know that they are to you.
January 25, 2026 at 11:10 PM
"Response inhibition" and "inhibitory control" aren't synonyms to me, but it's helpful to know that they are to you.
- What do you mean by "inhibitory control"?
- The idea that a lab task can ever be more than mildly predictive of real-world behavior is silly.
- All lab tasks are bad. But necessary to study basic neural circuits.
- No respected basic cogneuro "inhibitory control" lab uses the tasks you listed.
- The idea that a lab task can ever be more than mildly predictive of real-world behavior is silly.
- All lab tasks are bad. But necessary to study basic neural circuits.
- No respected basic cogneuro "inhibitory control" lab uses the tasks you listed.
January 25, 2026 at 4:39 PM
- What do you mean by "inhibitory control"?
- The idea that a lab task can ever be more than mildly predictive of real-world behavior is silly.
- All lab tasks are bad. But necessary to study basic neural circuits.
- No respected basic cogneuro "inhibitory control" lab uses the tasks you listed.
- The idea that a lab task can ever be more than mildly predictive of real-world behavior is silly.
- All lab tasks are bad. But necessary to study basic neural circuits.
- No respected basic cogneuro "inhibitory control" lab uses the tasks you listed.
But I'll let you dig into the paper if you're interested. Here's the preprint again: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
But I'll let you dig into the paper if you're interested. Here's the preprint again: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
There is much more in the paper, including multi-variate decoding analyses of the EEG, EMG, and a lateralization analysis of STN. That latter analysis shows that β bursts in the bilateral STN are extremely tightly coupled, and there is little evidence for lateralized β in STN during stopping.
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
There is much more in the paper, including multi-variate decoding analyses of the EEG, EMG, and a lateralization analysis of STN. That latter analysis shows that β bursts in the bilateral STN are extremely tightly coupled, and there is little evidence for lateralized β in STN during stopping.
Moreover, STN beta burst rates were strongly coupled with fronto-central beta burst rates during all trials. This suggests that the fronto-STN circuit flexibly coordinates behavioral adjustments by rapidly inhibiting, releasing, and re-inhibiting movement, depending on the contextual requirements.
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Moreover, STN beta burst rates were strongly coupled with fronto-central beta burst rates during all trials. This suggests that the fronto-STN circuit flexibly coordinates behavioral adjustments by rapidly inhibiting, releasing, and re-inhibiting movement, depending on the contextual requirements.
So what are these precise adjustments? On global stop-trials, STN β burst rates kept rising above baseline levels after the initial increase, sustaining there for over a second. On selective stop & ignore trials, where some (or all) movement had to continue, STN β bursts first went DOWN again.
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
So what are these precise adjustments? On global stop-trials, STN β burst rates kept rising above baseline levels after the initial increase, sustaining there for over a second. On selective stop & ignore trials, where some (or all) movement had to continue, STN β bursts first went DOWN again.
This is in line with our previous work suggesting that hyperdirect STN activity is an automatic and stereotypic response to all salient stimuli. It's a "Pause" that buys time for more precise adjustments of behavior. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
On the Globality of Motor Suppression: Unexpected Events and Their Influence on Behavior and Cognition
Unexpected events are part of everyday experience. They come in several varieties—action errors, unexpected action outcomes, and unexpected perceptual…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
This is in line with our previous work suggesting that hyperdirect STN activity is an automatic and stereotypic response to all salient stimuli. It's a "Pause" that buys time for more precise adjustments of behavior. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
There's a bunch of findings in the paper, and I won't go over all of them. Most notably, STN initially showed the same fast β burst increase across 'global' stop trials (all movements are stopped), response-selective stop trials (only some movements are stopped), and even ignore trials (no stopping)
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
There's a bunch of findings in the paper, and I won't go over all of them. Most notably, STN initially showed the same fast β burst increase across 'global' stop trials (all movements are stopped), response-selective stop trials (only some movements are stopped), and even ignore trials (no stopping)
Cheol and Mario then used a method that they developed to record LFPs from the human STN outside of surgery, using the telemetry interface of Percept deep-brain stimulators. This also allowed them to record EEG at the same time. Find their methods paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Precisely-timed outpatient recordings of subcortical local field potentials from wireless streaming-capable deep-brain stimulators: a method and toolbox
Investigations of the electrophysiological mechanisms of the human subcortex have relied on recording local field potentials (LFPs) during deep-brain …
www.sciencedirect.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Cheol and Mario then used a method that they developed to record LFPs from the human STN outside of surgery, using the telemetry interface of Percept deep-brain stimulators. This also allowed them to record EEG at the same time. Find their methods paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
So Mario made a stimulus- and response- selective task, where only some signals meant "stop", whereas others had to be ignored. Moreover, sometimes only some movements had to stop, while others had to continue.
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
So Mario made a stimulus- and response- selective task, where only some signals meant "stop", whereas others had to be ignored. Moreover, sometimes only some movements had to stop, while others had to continue.
Second, unlike the SST, real-world stopping is 'response-selective': most often, only some movements are stopped, while others continue. In other words, you can stop walking across the road without dropping your grocery bag. In the SST, you stop all initiated movements.
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Second, unlike the SST, real-world stopping is 'response-selective': most often, only some movements are stopped, while others continue. In other words, you can stop walking across the road without dropping your grocery bag. In the SST, you stop all initiated movements.
First, unlike the stop-signal task (SST), real-world stopping is 'stimulus-selective': movements are stopped only to some salient stimuli - unlike in the SST, where every salient signal means 'stop'. Picture crossing this road: you only stop walking after a car horn, but not a ship's air horn.
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
First, unlike the stop-signal task (SST), real-world stopping is 'stimulus-selective': movements are stopped only to some salient stimuli - unlike in the SST, where every salient signal means 'stop'. Picture crossing this road: you only stop walking after a car horn, but not a ship's air horn.
However, this work has so far been limited to very simple stop-signal tasks. That is because human STN recordings have to be performed during neurosurgery, where cognition and behavior are substantially impaired.
Stop-signal tasks, however, are a poor model of real-world control.
Stop-signal tasks, however, are a poor model of real-world control.
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
However, this work has so far been limited to very simple stop-signal tasks. That is because human STN recordings have to be performed during neurosurgery, where cognition and behavior are substantially impaired.
Stop-signal tasks, however, are a poor model of real-world control.
Stop-signal tasks, however, are a poor model of real-world control.
Summary: Lots of past work has shown that inhibitory motor activity is accompanied by β bursts. These bursts can be found both over frontal cortex, as well as in the STN, the key nucleus in the fronto-basal ganglia inhibitory control network. elifesciences.org/articles/70270
Cortico-subcortical β burst dynamics underlying movement cancellation in humans
Burst-like neural activity in the β-frequency band conveys inhibitory commands within long-proposed cortico-subcortical networks for motor inhibition, with inhibitory activity in STN preceding thalami...
elifesciences.org
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Summary: Lots of past work has shown that inhibitory motor activity is accompanied by β bursts. These bursts can be found both over frontal cortex, as well as in the STN, the key nucleus in the fronto-basal ganglia inhibitory control network. elifesciences.org/articles/70270
I don't know who Shapiro is (I'm guessing that refers to who runs this thing for computer boy) but I agree that the BRAIN initiative was a wonderful demonstration of what can happen when gov't funds are distributed towards non-profit science that benefits everyone instead of private enterprise.
January 16, 2026 at 1:37 AM
I don't know who Shapiro is (I'm guessing that refers to who runs this thing for computer boy) but I agree that the BRAIN initiative was a wonderful demonstration of what can happen when gov't funds are distributed towards non-profit science that benefits everyone instead of private enterprise.
Ooh boy, another great opportunity for a bunch of incurious failed academics to gain well-numerated employment with one of today's most notably hollow quasi-people and achieve absolutely nothing at all. I sure hope we'll also get a chance to subsidize this with a bunch of tax dollars!!
January 16, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Ooh boy, another great opportunity for a bunch of incurious failed academics to gain well-numerated employment with one of today's most notably hollow quasi-people and achieve absolutely nothing at all. I sure hope we'll also get a chance to subsidize this with a bunch of tax dollars!!
Congratulations!! Huge loss for the US but stoked things are working out for you!
January 12, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Congratulations!! Huge loss for the US but stoked things are working out for you!
It is. Sorry, missed that you were looking for journal articles specifically. In terms of paywall, the Wayback Machine is your friend :)
January 6, 2026 at 2:28 PM
It is. Sorry, missed that you were looking for journal articles specifically. In terms of paywall, the Wayback Machine is your friend :)
One of the best we have.
January 6, 2026 at 2:12 PM
One of the best we have.