An Exercise in Focus and Response Control

Overview

This digital tool is a focused exercise designed to engage and challenge two key executive functions: sustained attention and response inhibition. Think of it as targeted practice for your brain’s self-regulation skills.

How It Works

React as quickly as possible to the Go signal (green circle). Intentionally withhold any response to No-Go signals (yellow). The task blends rapid decision-making with deliberate self-control.

Expected Benefits and Scientific Background

• Improved self-awareness: Notice your own attention patterns and impulsive tendencies.
• Practice of inhibitory control: A workout for prefrontal control circuits involved in response inhibition.
• Context-specific influence: Lab studies and meta-analyses report small effects (e.g., g≈−0.21) in reducing certain choices/consumption after Go/No-Go or stop-signal training, especially in single-session protocols.

Limitations: In healthy adults, effects are typically small–moderate and condition-dependent, with selective transfer and limited long-term persistence (e.g., correlations to real-world behavior around r≈0.09). Treat this as structured practice, not a clinical treatment.

Recommended Use

• Time & Frequency: 3–5 minutes per session, about 3–5 times per week. Stop if fatigue reduces focus.
• Objective: Use it as a self-observation tool (e.g., “Do I rush and make errors?” or “Am I consistently late?”). Changes in brain activity have been observed even after single sessions in research settings.