In visual Go/Nogo tasks the ERP usually shows a frontal negativity after No
go stimuli ("Nogo-N2"), which possibly reflects an inhibition process. Howe
ver, the Nogo-N2 appears to be very small after auditory stimuli, which is
evidence against the inhibition hypothesis. In the present study we tested
this hypothesis by evaluating performance differences between subjects. Ass
uming that for Ss with a high false alarm rate the inhibition process is we
akened and/ or delayed, they should reveal a smaller and/or later Nogo-N2 t
han Ss with a low false alarm rate. This prediction was confirmed, which su
pports the inhibition hypothesis. However, the Nogo-N2 was again much small
er and had a different topography after auditory than after visual stimuli
despite similar performance in both modalities. This modality asymmetry was
explained by assuming that the inhibitory mechanism reflected in the Nogo-
N2 is located at a pre-motor rather than at the motor level. In the second
part of the study we compared the Nogo-N2 with a similar phenomenon, the er
ror negativity (N-e), which occurs in trials with commission errors (false
alarms). Earlier work suggests that the N-e is a correlate of error detecti
on or inhibition. This raises the possibility that the N-e is a delayed Nog
o-N2, i.e., the N-e may reflect a late and hence unsuccessful attempt to in
hibit the response after a nontarget. However, the N-e amplitude showed no
difference between performance groups and stimulus modalities, as found for
the Nogo-N2. Moreover, N-e and Nogo-N2 had different scalp topographies. T
his suggests that different mechanisms and generators underlie the N-e and
the Nogo-N2. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PsycINFO c
lassification: 2530.