Final answer:
Stimulating the right inferior frontal cortex in monkeys during a Go/No Go task is likely to affect their cognitive control by influencing their decision-making and response inhibition. Neuroimaging studies in humans, such as those utilizing PET scans, show that different tasks result in varied activation levels in specific areas of the prefrontal cortex.
Step-by-step explanation:
When the right inferior frontal cortex is stimulated in monkeys during a Go/No Go task, it affects their decision-making process and their ability to inhibit responses. The right inferior frontal cortex is crucial for cognitive control and is activated during tasks that require inhibition of a prepotent response. In humans, for instance, PET scan studies have shown that different tasks activate specific parts of the prefrontal cortex. For example, a semantic task such as categorizing a noun (living or non-living) results in greater activation in the left inferior prefrontal cortex, which is linked to better recall performance.
In experimental settings, if researchers were to stimulate the analogous region in monkeys, we could infer a possible effect on decision-making processes or action inhibition based on the studies conducted by Rushworth M.F. et al. (2011) and others who analyzed the frontal cortex's role in reward-guided learning and decision-making. The assumption that active nervous tissue correlates with higher blood flow allows for studies using fMRI or PET scans to measure activity, which can be interpreted as neural engagement during tasks. Such neuroimaging techniques can illustrate how brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex contribute to complex cognitive functions, including planning and decision-making.