Multivariate Pattern Analysis Techniques for Electroencephalography Data to Study Flanker Interference Effects

A central challenge in cognitive neuroscience is to understand the neural mechanisms that underlie the capacity to control our behavior according to internal goals. Flanker tasks, which require responding to stimuli surrounded by distracters that trigger incompatible action tendencies, are frequently used to measure this conflict. Even though the interference generated in these situations has been broadly studied, multivariate analysis techniques can shed new light into the underlying neural mechanisms. The current study is an initial approximation to adapt an interference Flanker paradigm embedded in a Demand-Selection Task (DST) to a format that allows measuring concurrent high-density electroencephalography (EEG). We used multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to decode conflict-related electrophysiological markers associated with congruent or incongruent target events in a time-frequency resolved way. Our results replicate findings obtained with other analysis approaches and offer new information regarding the dynamics of the underlying mechanisms, which show signs of reinstantiation. Our findings, some of which could not have been obtained with classic analytical strategies, open novel avenues of research.