Activation of the cognitive control system (e.g., during response conflict) can be measured through a variety of dependent variables, including behavioral (reaction time and accuracy), hemodynamic, and electrophysiological. Relevant for the present study, response conflict (and other cognitive control situations such as errors or negative performance feedback) increases theta-band oscillatory activity over medial frontal cortex (Luu and Tucker, 2001; Cohen et al., 2008; Hanslmayr et al., 2008; Cavanagh et al., 2009; Cohen et al., 2009). This medial frontal theta has been proposed to reflect an electrophysiological mechanism for coordinating neural networks involved in monitoring behavior and the environment as well as facilitating task-specific adaptive changes in performance in conjunction with lateral prefrontal cortex and sensory-motor areas.
