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Yao T, Vanduffel W. Conflict detection and resolution in macaque frontal eye fields. Commun Biol 2024; 7:119. [PMID: 38263256 PMCID: PMC10805886 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05800-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Stimulus-induced conflicts in decision-making tasks produce both behavioral and neuronal congruency effects. However, how and when conflicts are detected and resolved at the neuronal level remains largely unclear. To address these issues, we recorded from single neurons in the frontal eye fields of two macaques performing a conflict task. Although the temporal dynamics of the neuronal congruency effects are independent of the specific task rules, they are substantially different in target- and distractor-encoding neurons. Conflicts were detected ~100 ms after the conflict-inducing cue (20-30 ms after the visual response), which is much faster than predicted based on human EEG results. This suggests that conflict detection relies on a fast mechanism in frontal eye fields. Resolving the conflict at the neuronal level, however, requires between <400 ms to ~1000 ms, and shows profound interindividual differences and depends on task rules, indicating that it is a more complex and top-down driven process. Our findings illuminate the neuronal mechanisms underlying decision-making when a conflict is present, a crucial cognitive process playing a role in basic survival and high-level cognitive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Yao
- Department of Neurosciences, Laboratory of Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven Medical School, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
| | - Wim Vanduffel
- Department of Neurosciences, Laboratory of Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven Medical School, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA.
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02144, USA.
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2
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Pagani M, Gutierrez-Barragan D, de Guzman AE, Xu T, Gozzi A. Mapping and comparing fMRI connectivity networks across species. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1238. [PMID: 38062107 PMCID: PMC10703935 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05629-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Technical advances in neuroimaging, notably in fMRI, have allowed distributed patterns of functional connectivity to be mapped in the human brain with increasing spatiotemporal resolution. Recent years have seen a growing interest in extending this approach to rodents and non-human primates to understand the mechanism of fMRI connectivity and complement human investigations of the functional connectome. Here, we discuss current challenges and opportunities of fMRI connectivity mapping across species. We underscore the critical importance of physiologically decoding neuroimaging measures of brain (dys)connectivity via multiscale mechanistic investigations in animals. We next highlight a set of general principles governing the organization of mammalian connectivity networks across species. These include the presence of evolutionarily conserved network systems, a dominant cortical axis of functional connectivity, and a common repertoire of topographically conserved fMRI spatiotemporal modes. We finally describe emerging approaches allowing comparisons and extrapolations of fMRI connectivity findings across species. As neuroscientists gain access to increasingly sophisticated perturbational, computational and recording tools, cross-species fMRI offers novel opportunities to investigate the large-scale organization of the mammalian brain in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Pagani
- Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy
- Autism Center, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY, USA
- IMT School for Advanced Studies, Lucca, Italy
| | - Daniel Gutierrez-Barragan
- Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy
| | - A Elizabeth de Guzman
- Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Ting Xu
- Center for the Integrative Developmental Neuroscience, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alessandro Gozzi
- Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy.
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3
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Massera A, Bonaiuto JJ, Gautier-Martins M, Costa S, Rayson H, Ferrari PF. Longitudinal effects of early psychosocial deprivation on macaque executive function: Evidence from computational modelling. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20221993. [PMID: 37040804 PMCID: PMC10089718 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Executive function (EF) describes a group of cognitive processes underlying the organization and control of goal-directed behaviour. Environmental experience appears to play a crucial role in EF development, with early psychosocial deprivation often linked to EF impairment. However, many questions remain concerning the developmental trajectories of EF after exposure to deprivation, especially concerning specific mechanisms. Accordingly, using an 'A-not-B' paradigm and a macaque model of early psychosocial deprivation, we investigated how early deprivation influences EF development longitudinally from adolescence into early adulthood. The contribution of working memory and inhibitory control mechanisms were examined specifically via the fitting of a computational model of decision making to the choice behaviour of each individual. As predicted, peer-reared animals (i.e. those exposed to early psychosocial deprivation) performed worse than mother-reared animals across time, with the fitted model parameters yielding novel insights into the functional decomposition of group-level EF differences underlying task performance. Results indicated differential trajectories of inhibitory control and working memory development in the two groups. Such findings not only extend our knowledge of how early deprivation influences EF longitudinally, but also provide support for the utility of computational modelling to elucidate specific mechanisms linking early psychosocial deprivation to long-term poor outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Massera
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives – Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron 69500, France
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, 69100, France
| | - James J. Bonaiuto
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives – Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron 69500, France
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, 69100, France
| | - Marine Gautier-Martins
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives – Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron 69500, France
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, 69100, France
| | - Sara Costa
- Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma 43125, Italy
| | - Holly Rayson
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives – Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron 69500, France
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, 69100, France
| | - Pier Francesco Ferrari
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives – Marc Jeannerod, CNRS UMR5229, Bron 69500, France
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, 69100, France
- Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma 43125, Italy
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4
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Yurt P, Calapai A, Mundry R, Treue S. Assessing cognitive flexibility in humans and rhesus macaques with visual motion and neutral distractors. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1047292. [PMID: 36605264 PMCID: PMC9807625 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1047292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Cognitive flexibility is the ability of an individual to make behavioral adjustments in response to internal and/or external changes. While it has been reported in a wide variety of species, established paradigms to assess cognitive flexibility vary between humans and non-human animals, making systematic comparisons difficult to interpret. Methods We developed a computer-based paradigm to assess cognitive flexibility in humans and non-human primates. Our paradigm (1) uses a classical reversal learning structure in combination with a set-shifting approach (4 stimuli and 3 rules) to assess flexibility at various levels; (2) it employs the use of motion as one of three possible contextual rules; (3) it comprises elements that allow a foraging-like and random interaction, i.e., instances where the animals operate the task without following a strategy, to potentially minimize frustration in favor of a more positive engagement. Results and Discussion We show that motion can be used as a feature dimension (in addition to commonly used shape and color) to assess cognitive flexibility. Due to the way motion is processed in the primate brain, we argue that this dimension is an ideal candidate in situations where a non-binary rule set is needed and where participants might not be able to fully grasp other visual information of the stimulus (e.g., quantity in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). All participants in our experiment flexibly shifted to and from motion-based rules as well as color- and shape-based rules, but did so with different proficiencies. Overall, we believe that with such approach it is possible to better characterize the evolution of cognitive flexibility in primates, as well as to develop more efficient tools to diagnose and treat various executive function deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pinar Yurt
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany,Georg-August University School of Science, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Antonino Calapai
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany,LeibnizScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Goettingen, Germany,*Correspondence: Antonino Calapai,
| | - Roger Mundry
- LeibnizScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Goettingen, Germany,Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Goettingen, Germany,Department for Primate Cognition, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Stefan Treue
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany,LeibnizScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Goettingen, Germany
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Neuronal congruency effects in macaque prefrontal cortex. Nat Commun 2022; 13:4702. [PMID: 35948534 PMCID: PMC9365805 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32382-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The interplay between task-relevant and task-irrelevant information may induce conflicts that impair behavioral performance, a.k.a. behavioral congruency effects. The neuronal mechanisms underlying behavioral congruency effects, however, are poorly understood. We recorded single unit activity in monkey prefrontal cortex using a task-switching paradigm and discovered a neuronal congruency effect (NCE) that is carried by target and distractor neurons which process target and distractor-related information, respectively. The former neurons provide more signal, the latter less noise in congruent compared to incongruent conditions, resulting in a better target representation. Such NCE is dominated by the level of congruency, and is not determined by the task rules the subjects used, their reaction times (RT), the length of the delay period, nor the response levels of the neurons. We propose that this NCE can explain behavioral congruency effects in general, as well as previous fMRI and EEG results in various conflict paradigms. Stimulus-induced conflicts impair behavior in conflict tasks resulting in a phenomenon known as the behavioral congruency effect. Here, the authors investigate the neural underpinnings of this phenomenon and report a neuronal congruency effect in macaque prefrontal cortex to explain this impairment.
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Xue C, Kramer LE, Cohen MR. Dynamic task-belief is an integral part of decision-making. Neuron 2022; 110:2503-2511.e3. [PMID: 35700735 PMCID: PMC9357195 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Natural decisions involve two seemingly separable processes: inferring the relevant task (task-belief) and performing the believed-relevant task. The assumed separability has led to the traditional practice of studying task-switching and perceptual decision-making individually. Here, we used a novel paradigm to manipulate and measure macaque monkeys' task-belief and demonstrated inextricable neuronal links between flexible task-belief and perceptual decision-making. We showed that in animals, but not in artificial networks that performed as well or better than the animals, stronger task-belief is associated with better perception. Correspondingly, recordings from neuronal populations in cortical areas 7a and V1 revealed that stronger task-belief is associated with better discriminability of the believed-relevant, but not the believed-irrelevant, feature. Perception also impacts belief updating; noise fluctuations in V1 help explain how task-belief is updated. Our results demonstrate that complex tasks and multi-area recordings can reveal fundamentally new principles of how biology affects behavior in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Xue
- Department of Neuroscience and Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
| | - Lily E Kramer
- Department of Neuroscience and Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
| | - Marlene R Cohen
- Department of Neuroscience and Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
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Tsumura K, Kosugi K, Hattori Y, Aoki R, Takeda M, Chikazoe J, Nakahara K, Jimura K. Reversible Fronto-occipitotemporal Signaling Complements Task Encoding and Switching under Ambiguous Cues. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:1911-1931. [PMID: 34519334 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptation to changing environments involves the appropriate extraction of environmental information to achieve a behavioral goal. It remains unclear how behavioral flexibility is guided under situations where the relevant behavior is ambiguous. Using functional brain mapping of machine learning decoders and directional functional connectivity, we show that brain-wide reversible neural signaling underpins task encoding and behavioral flexibility in ambiguously changing environments. When relevant behavior is cued ambiguously during behavioral shifting, neural coding is attenuated in distributed cortical regions, but top-down signals from the prefrontal cortex complement the coding. When behavioral shifting is cued more explicitly, modality-specialized occipitotemporal regions implement distinct neural coding about relevant behavior, and bottom-up signals from the occipitotemporal region to the prefrontal cortex supplement the behavioral shift. These results suggest that our adaptation to an ever-changing world is orchestrated by the alternation of top-down and bottom-up signaling in the fronto-occipitotemporal circuit depending on the availability of environmental information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaho Tsumura
- Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Keio University, Yokohama 223-0061, Japan
| | - Keita Kosugi
- Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Keio University, Yokohama 223-0061, Japan
| | - Yoshiki Hattori
- Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Keio University, Yokohama 223-0061, Japan
| | - Ryuta Aoki
- Research Center for Brain Communication, Kochi University of Technology, Kami 782-8502, Japan
| | - Masaki Takeda
- Research Center for Brain Communication, Kochi University of Technology, Kami 782-8502, Japan
| | - Junichi Chikazoe
- Supportive Center for Brain Research, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Kiyoshi Nakahara
- Research Center for Brain Communication, Kochi University of Technology, Kami 782-8502, Japan
| | - Koji Jimura
- Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Keio University, Yokohama 223-0061, Japan.,Research Center for Brain Communication, Kochi University of Technology, Kami 782-8502, Japan
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8
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9
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Flexible coding of object motion in multiple reference frames by parietal cortex neurons. Nat Neurosci 2020; 23:1004-1015. [PMID: 32541964 PMCID: PMC7474851 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0656-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Neurons represent spatial information in diverse reference frames, but it remains unclear whether neural reference frames change with task demands and whether these changes can account for behavior. We examined how neurons represent the direction of a moving object during self-motion, while monkeys switched, from trial to trial, between reporting object direction in head- and world-centered reference frames. Self-motion information is needed to compute object motion in world coordinates, but should be ignored when judging object motion in head coordinates. Neural responses in the ventral intraparietal area are modulated by the task reference frame, such that population activity represents object direction in either reference frame. In contrast, responses in the lateral portion of the medial superior temporal area primarily represent object motion in head coordinates. Our findings demonstrate a neural representation of object motion that changes with task requirements.
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10
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Gray-Burrows K, Taylor N, O'Connor D, Sutherland E, Stoet G, Conner M. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the executive function-health behaviour relationship. Health Psychol Behav Med 2019; 7:253-268. [PMID: 34040850 PMCID: PMC8114370 DOI: 10.1080/21642850.2019.1637740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective This study provides the first comprehensive meta-analysis of the relationship between executive function (EF) and performance of health behaviours in healthy populations. Method Electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science) were searched, and forward and backward citation tracking was undertaken to identify articles investigating the relationship between EF and health behaviour. Studies were eligible if they examined the direct correlational relationship between EF and health behaviour in healthy populations, were available in English and published in peer-reviewed journals in any year. Results Sixty-one articles covering 65 tests were included in a random effects meta-analysis. Several moderators were assessed, including: the type, and addictiveness of the health behaviour; the type of EF measure; study design, and sample characteristics. Overall EF had a significant, but small correlation with health behaviour; EF was significantly positively associated with health-protective behaviours and significantly negatively associated with health-damaging behaviours. There was considerable heterogeneity in the observed effect sizes, but this was not explained by the examined moderators. Conclusions Although the meta-analysis indicates a significant effect for EF on health behaviour, effect size is small. Due to the complex nature of EF, more research is required to further elucidate the relationship between EF and health behaviour in its entire conceptualization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ed Sutherland
- School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Gijsbert Stoet
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Mark Conner
- School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
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11
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Mansouri FA, Buckley MJ. Context-Dependent Adjustments in Executive Control of Goal-Directed Behaviour: Contribution of Frontal Brain Areas to Conflict-Induced Behavioural Adjustments in Primates. ADVANCES IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2019; 21:71-83. [PMID: 30334220 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-94593-4_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
Psychophysical studies in humans indicate that the performance in various tasks is affected by contextual factors such as conflict level and error commission. It is generally believed that contextual factors influence the executive control processes and consequently modulate ongoing behaviour. Imaging studies suggest that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex play crucial roles in mediating these context-dependent adjustments in executive control of behaviour. However, the underlying neuronal processes are to a great extent unknown. Recent studies in non-human primates indicate great similarities in conflict-induced behavioural adjustments between humans and macaque monkeys. Animal models have provided the opportunity to conduct various detailed neurobiological techniques to reveal the neural underpinning of conflict-induced behavioural modulations. In this chapter, we review the latest findings in humans and non-human primate models regarding the neural substrate and underlying mechanisms of conflict-dependent executive control adjustments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farshad A Mansouri
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
| | - Mark J Buckley
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
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12
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Gilmour G, Porcelli S, Bertaina-Anglade V, Arce E, Dukart J, Hayen A, Lobo A, Lopez-Anton R, Merlo Pich E, Pemberton DJ, Havenith MN, Glennon JC, Harel BT, Dawson G, Marston H, Kozak R, Serretti A. Relating constructs of attention and working memory to social withdrawal in Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia: issues regarding paradigm selection. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 97:47-69. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Revised: 08/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Havenith MN, Zijderveld PM, van Heukelum S, Abghari S, Glennon JC, Tiesinga P. The Virtual-Environment-Foraging Task enables rapid training and single-trial metrics of attention in head-fixed mice. Sci Rep 2018; 8:17371. [PMID: 30478333 PMCID: PMC6255915 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34966-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2016] [Accepted: 10/25/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention - the flexible allocation of processing resources based on behavioural demands - is essential to survival. Mouse research offers unique tools to dissect the underlying pathways, but is hampered by the difficulty of accurately measuring attention in mice. Current attention tasks for mice face several limitations: Binary (hit/miss), temporally imprecise metrics, behavioural confounds and overtraining. Thus, despite the increasing scope of neuronal population measurements, insights are limited without equally precise behavioural measures. Here we present a virtual-environment task for head-fixed mice based on 'foraging-like' navigation. The task requires animals to discriminate gratings at orientation differences from 90° to 5°, and can be learned in only 3-5 sessions (<550 trials). It yields single-trial, non-binary metrics of response speed and accuracy, which generate secondary metrics of choice certainty, visual acuity, and most importantly, of sustained and cued attention - two attentional components studied extensively in humans. This allows us to examine single-trial dynamics of attention in mice, independently of confounds like rule learning. With this approach, we show that C57/BL6 mice have better visual acuity than previously measured, that they rhythmically alternate between states of high and low alertness, and that they can be prompted to adopt different performance strategies using minute changes in reward contingencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha N Havenith
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Kapittelweg, 29 6525EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Peter M Zijderveld
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Kapittelweg, 29 6525EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Sabrina van Heukelum
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Kapittelweg, 29 6525EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Shaghayegh Abghari
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Kapittelweg, 29 6525EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Jeffrey C Glennon
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Kapittelweg, 29 6525EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Paul Tiesinga
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Kapittelweg, 29 6525EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Nieder A. Evolution of cognitive and neural solutions enabling numerosity judgements: lessons from primates and corvids. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:rstb.2016.0514. [PMID: 29292361 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Brains that are capable of representing numerosity, the number of items in a set, have arisen repeatedly and independently in different animal taxa. This review compares the cognitive and physiological mechanisms found in a nonhuman primate, the rhesus macaque, and a corvid songbird, the carrion crow, in order to elucidate the evolutionary adaptations underlying numerical competence. Monkeys and corvids are known for their advanced cognitive competence, despite them both having independently and distinctly evolved endbrains that resulted from a long history of parallel evolution. In both species, numerosity is represented as an analogue magnitude by an approximate number system that obeys the Weber-Fechner Law. In addition, the activity of numerosity-selective neurons in the fronto-parietal association cortex of monkeys and the telencephalic associative area nidopallium caudolaterale of crows mirrors the animals' performance. In both species' brains, neuronal activity is tuned to a preferred numerosity, encodes the numerical value in an approximate fashion, and is best represented on a logarithmic scale. Collectively, the data show an impressive correspondence of the cognitive and neuronal mechanisms for numerosity representations across monkeys and crows. This suggests that remotely related vertebrates with distinctly developed endbrains adopted similar physiological solutions to common computational problems in numerosity processing.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The origins of numerical abilities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Nieder
- Animal Physiology Unit, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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15
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Smith TR, Beran MJ. Task switching in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) during computerized categorization tasks. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-ANIMAL LEARNING AND COGNITION 2018; 44:229-246. [PMID: 29847983 DOI: 10.1037/xan0000174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The present experiments extended to monkeys a previously used abstract categorization procedure (Castro & Wasserman, 2016) where pigeons had categorized arrays of clipart icons based upon two task rules: the number of clipart objects in the array or the variability of objects in the array. Experiment 1 replicated Castro and Wasserman by using capuchin monkeys and rhesus monkeys and reported that monkeys' performances were similar to pigeons' in terms of acquisition, pattern of errors, and the absence of switch costs. Furthermore, monkeys' insensitivity to the added irrelevant information suggested that an associative (rather than rule-based) categorization mechanism was dominant. Experiment 2 was conducted to include categorization cue reversals to determine (a) whether the monkeys would quickly adapt to the reversals and inhibit interference from a prereversal task rule (consistent with a rule-based mechanism) and (b) whether the latency to make a response prior to a correct or incorrect outcome was informative about the presence of a cognitive mechanism. The cue reassignment produced profound and long-lasting performance deficits, and a long reacquisition phase suggested the involvement of associative learning processes; however, monkeys also displayed longer latencies to choose prior to correct responses on challenging trials, suggesting the involvement of nonassociative processes. Together these performances suggest a mix of associative and cognitive-control processes governing monkey categorization judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Ott T, Westendorff S, Nieder A. Dopamine Receptors Influence Internally Generated Oscillations during Rule Processing in Primate Prefrontal Cortex. J Cogn Neurosci 2018; 30:770-784. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Neural oscillations in distinct frequency bands in the prefrontal cortex (pFC) are associated with specialized roles during cognitive control. How dopamine modulates oscillations to structure pFC functions remains unknown. We trained macaques to switch between two numerical rules and recorded local field potentials from pFC while applying dopamine receptor targeting drugs using microiontophoresis. We show that the D1 and D2 family receptors (D1Rs and D2Rs, respectively) specifically altered internally generated prefrontal oscillations, whereas sensory-evoked potentials remained unchanged. Blocking D1Rs or stimulating D2Rs increased low-frequency theta and alpha oscillations known to be involved in learning and memory. In contrast, only D1R inhibition enhanced high-frequency beta oscillations, whereas only D2R stimulation increased gamma oscillations linked to top–down and bottom–up attentional processing. These findings suggest that dopamine alters neural oscillations relevant for executive functioning through dissociable actions at the receptor level.
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Marcos E, Nougaret S, Tsujimoto S, Genovesio A. Outcome Modulation Across Tasks in the Primate Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex. Neuroscience 2018; 371:96-105. [PMID: 29158109 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.11.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Animals need to learn and to adapt to new and changing environments so that appropriate actions that lead to desirable outcomes are acquired within each context. The prefrontal cortex (PF) is known to underlie such function that directly implies that the outcome of each response must be represented in the brain for behavioral policies update. However, whether such PF signal is context dependent or it is a general representation beyond the specificity of a context is still unclear. Here, we analyzed the activity of neurons in the dorsolateral PF (PFdl) recorded while two monkeys performed two perceptual magnitude discrimination tasks. Both tasks were well known by the monkeys and unexpected changes did not occur but the difficulty of the task varied from trial to trial and thus the monkeys made mistakes in a proportion of trials. We show a context-independent coding of the response outcome with neurons maintaining similar selectivity in both task contexts. Using a classification method of the neural activity, we also show that the trial outcome could be well predicted from the activity of the same neurons in the two contexts. Altogether, our results provide evidence of high degree of outcome generality in PFdl.
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Affiliation(s)
- Encarni Marcos
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - Simon Nougaret
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - Satoshi Tsujimoto
- Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan; The Nielsen Company Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore
| | - Aldo Genovesio
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
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18
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Chan JL, Koval MJ, Johnston K, Everling S. Neural correlates for task switching in the macaque superior colliculus. J Neurophysiol 2017; 118:2156-2170. [PMID: 28794192 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00139.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 07/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Successful task switching requires a network of brain areas to select, maintain, implement, and execute the appropriate task. Although frontoparietal brain areas are thought to play a critical role in task switching by selecting and encoding task rules and exerting top-down control, how brain areas closer to the execution of tasks participate in task switching is unclear. The superior colliculus (SC) integrates information from various brain areas to generate saccades and is likely influenced by task switching. Here, we investigated switch costs in nonhuman primates and their neural correlates in the activity of SC saccade-related neurons in monkeys performing cued, randomly interleaved pro- and anti-saccade trials. We predicted that behavioral switch costs would be associated with differential modulations of SC activity in trials on which the task was switched vs. repeated, with activity on the current trial resembling that associated with the task set of the previous trial when a switch occurred. We observed both error rate and reaction time switch costs and changes in the discharge rate and timing of activity in SC neurons between switch and repeat trials. These changes were present later in the task only after fixation on the cue stimuli but before saccade onset. These results further establish switch costs in macaque monkeys and suggest that SC activity is modulated by task-switching processes in a manner inconsistent with the concept of task set inertia.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Task-switching behavior and superior colliculus (SC) activity were investigated in nonhuman primates performing randomly interleaved pro- and anti-saccade tasks. Here, we report error rate and reaction time switch costs in macaque monkeys and associated differences in stimulus-related activity of saccade-related neurons in the SC. These results provide a neural correlate for task switching and suggest that the SC is modulated by task-switching processes and may reflect the completion of task set reconfiguration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason L Chan
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michael J Koval
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kevin Johnston
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; and
| | - Stefan Everling
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; .,Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; and.,Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada
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19
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Li X, Li B, Lages M, Stoet G. Commentary: Task-Switching in Pigeons: Associative Learning or Executive Control? Front Psychol 2017; 8:1420. [PMID: 28878715 PMCID: PMC5572272 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Accepted: 08/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xiangqian Li
- School of Psychology, University of GlasgowGlasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Bingxin Li
- School of Psychology, University of GlasgowGlasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Lages
- School of Psychology, University of GlasgowGlasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Gijsbert Stoet
- School of Social Sciences, Leeds Beckett UniversityLeeds, United Kingdom
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20
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Context-Dependent Accumulation of Sensory Evidence in the Parietal Cortex Underlies Flexible Task Switching. J Neurosci 2017; 36:12192-12202. [PMID: 27903728 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1693-16.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2016] [Revised: 10/06/2016] [Accepted: 10/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Switching behavior based on multiple rules is a fundamental ability of flexible behavior. Although interactions among the frontal, parietal, and sensory cortices are necessary for such flexibility, little is known about the neural computations concerning context-dependent information readouts. Here, we provide evidence that neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) accumulate relevant information preferentially depending on context. We trained monkeys to switch between direction and depth discrimination tasks and analyzed the buildup activity in the LIP depending on task context. In accordance with behavior, the rate of buildup to identical visual stimuli differed between tasks and buildup was prominent only for the stimulus dimension relevant to the task. These results indicate that LIP neurons accumulate relevant information depending on context to decide flexibly where to move the eye, suggesting that flexibility is, at least partly, implemented in the form of temporal integration gain control. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Flexible behavior depending on context is a hallmark of human cognition. During flexible behavior, the frontal and parietal cortices have complex representations that hinder efforts to conceptualize their underlying computations. We now provide evidence that neurons in the lateral intraparietal area accumulate relevant information preferentially depending on context. We suggest that behavioral flexibility is implemented in the form of temporal integration gain control in the parietal cortex.
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21
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Rule Encoding in Orbitofrontal Cortex and Striatum Guides Selection. J Neurosci 2017; 36:11223-11237. [PMID: 27807165 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1766-16.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Accepted: 09/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Active maintenance of rules, like other executive functions, is often thought to be the domain of a discrete executive system. An alternative view is that rule maintenance is a broadly distributed function relying on widespread cortical and subcortical circuits. Tentative evidence supporting this view comes from research showing some rule selectivity in the orbitofrontal cortex and dorsal striatum. We recorded in these regions and in the ventral striatum, which has not been associated previously with rule representation, as macaques performed a Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. We found robust encoding of rule category (color vs shape) and rule identity (six possible rules) in all three regions. Rule identity modulated responses to potential choice targets, suggesting that rule information guides behavior by highlighting choice targets. The effects that we observed were not explained by differences in behavioral performance across rules and thus cannot be attributed to reward expectation. Our results suggest that rule maintenance and rule-guided selection of options are distributed processes and provide new insight into orbital and striatal contributions to executive control. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Rule maintenance, an important executive function, is generally thought to rely on dorsolateral brain regions. In this study, we examined activity of single neurons in orbitofrontal cortex and in ventral and dorsal striatum of macaques in a Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. Neurons in all three areas encoded rules and rule categories robustly. Rule identity also affected neural responses to potential choice options, suggesting that stored information is used to influence decisions. These results endorse the hypothesis that rule maintenance is a broadly distributed mental operation.
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22
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Attention and Working Memory in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Functional MRI Study. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2016; 47:503-17. [PMID: 26323584 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-015-0583-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The present study examined attention and memory load-dependent differences in the brain activation and deactivation patterns between adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and typically developing (TD) controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Attentional (0-back) and working memory (WM; 2-back) processing and load differences (0 vs. 2-back) were analysed. WM-related areas activated and default mode network deactivated normally in ASDs as a function of task load. ASDs performed the attentional 0-back task similarly to TD controls but showed increased deactivation in cerebellum and right temporal cortical areas and weaker activation in other cerebellar areas. Increasing task load resulted in multiple responses in ASDs compared to TD and in inadequate modulation of brain activity in right insula, primary somatosensory, motor and auditory cortices. The changes during attentional task may reflect compensatory mechanisms enabling normal behavioral performance. The inadequate memory load-dependent modulation of activity suggests diminished compensatory potential in ASD.
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23
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Unity and diversity of executive functions: Individual differences as a window on cognitive structure. Cortex 2016; 86:186-204. [PMID: 27251123 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 820] [Impact Index Per Article: 102.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 04/13/2016] [Accepted: 04/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Executive functions (EFs) are high-level cognitive processes, often associated with the frontal lobes, that control lower level processes in the service of goal-directed behavior. They include abilities such as response inhibition, interference control, working memory updating, and set shifting. EFs show a general pattern of shared but distinct functions, a pattern described as "unity and diversity". We review studies of EF unity and diversity at the behavioral and genetic levels, focusing on studies of normal individual differences and what they reveal about the functional organization of these cognitive abilities. In particular, we review evidence that across multiple ages and populations, commonly studied EFs (a) are robustly correlated but separable when measured with latent variables; (b) are not the same as general intelligence or g; (c) are highly heritable at the latent level and seemingly also highly polygenic; and (d) activate both common and specific neural areas and can be linked to individual differences in neural activation, volume, and connectivity. We highlight how considering individual differences at the behavioral and neural levels can add considerable insight to the investigation of the functional organization of the brain, and conclude with some key points about individual differences to consider when interpreting neuropsychological patterns of dissociation.
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24
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Friedman NP, Miyake A, Altamirano LJ, Corley RP, Young SE, Rhea SA, Hewitt JK. Stability and change in executive function abilities from late adolescence to early adulthood: A longitudinal twin study. Dev Psychol 2016; 52:326-40. [PMID: 26619323 PMCID: PMC4821683 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Executive functions (EFs)-the higher level cognitive abilities that enable us to control our own thoughts and actions-continue to develop into early adulthood, yet no longitudinal study has examined their stability during the important life transition from late adolescence to young adulthood. In this twin study (total N = 840 individuals from 424 families), we examined the stability of individual differences in 3 EF components across a 6-year period, from approximately age 17 years (Wave 1) to 23 years (Wave 2). Specifically, we address the following questions: (a) How stable are individual differences in multiple EFs across this time period? and (b) What (genetic and/or environmental) influences affect stability and change in EFs? Results indicated that individual differences in EFs are quite stable across this 6-year period (phenotypic latent variable correlations ranged from 0.86 to 1.0). However, there was evidence for change, particularly in the factor common to multiple EFs (Common EF). Multivariate twin models suggested that stability was due almost entirely to high genetic correlations across time; there was no new genetic variance at Wave 2. Change in Common EF was due to small but significant nonshared environmental influences at Wave 2 (15%). The results suggest that individual differences in EFs are quite heritable and stable by late adolescence, yet are still sensitive to environmental influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi P Friedman
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder
| | - Akira Miyake
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder
| | - Lee J Altamirano
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder
| | - Robin P Corley
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder
| | - Susan E Young
- Division of Substance Dependence, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
| | - Sally Ann Rhea
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder
| | - John K Hewitt
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder
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25
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Desrochers TM, Burk DC, Badre D, Sheinberg DL. The Monitoring and Control of Task Sequences in Human and Non-Human Primates. Front Syst Neurosci 2016; 9:185. [PMID: 26834581 PMCID: PMC4720743 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2015.00185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2015] [Accepted: 12/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Our ability to plan and execute a series of tasks leading to a desired goal requires remarkable coordination between sensory, motor, and decision-related systems. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to play a central role in this coordination, especially when actions must be assembled extemporaneously and cannot be programmed as a rote series of movements. A central component of this flexible behavior is the moment-by-moment allocation of working memory and attention. The ubiquity of sequence planning in our everyday lives belies the neural complexity that supports this capacity, and little is known about how frontal cortical regions orchestrate the monitoring and control of sequential behaviors. For example, it remains unclear if and how sensory cortical areas, which provide essential driving inputs for behavior, are modulated by the frontal cortex during these tasks. Here, we review what is known about moment-to-moment monitoring as it relates to visually guided, rule-driven behaviors that change over time. We highlight recent human work that shows how the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC) participates in monitoring during task sequences. Neurophysiological data from monkeys suggests that monitoring may be accomplished by neurons that respond to items within the sequence and may in turn influence the tuning properties of neurons in posterior sensory areas. Understanding the interplay between proceduralized or habitual acts and supervised control of sequences is key to our understanding of sequential task execution. A crucial bridge will be the use of experimental protocols that allow for the examination of the functional homology between monkeys and humans. We illustrate how task sequences may be parceled into components and examined experimentally, thereby opening future avenues of investigation into the neural basis of sequential monitoring and control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa M Desrochers
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University Providence, RI, USA
| | - Diana C Burk
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University Providence, RI, USA
| | - David Badre
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown UniversityProvidence, RI, USA; Brown Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidence, RI, USA
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26
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Castro L, Wasserman EA. Executive control and task switching in pigeons. Cognition 2016; 146:121-35. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2014] [Revised: 06/29/2015] [Accepted: 07/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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27
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Duan C, Erlich J, Brody C. Requirement of Prefrontal and Midbrain Regions for Rapid Executive Control of Behavior in the Rat. Neuron 2015; 86:1491-503. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.05.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2015] [Revised: 04/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/17/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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28
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Learning-induced autonomy of sensorimotor systems. Nat Neurosci 2015; 18:744-51. [PMID: 25849989 DOI: 10.1038/nn.3993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 362] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2014] [Accepted: 03/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Distributed networks of brain areas interact with one another in a time-varying fashion to enable complex cognitive and sensorimotor functions. Here we used new network-analysis algorithms to test the recruitment and integration of large-scale functional neural circuitry during learning. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired from healthy human participants, we investigated changes in the architecture of functional connectivity patterns that promote learning from initial training through mastery of a simple motor skill. Our results show that learning induces an autonomy of sensorimotor systems and that the release of cognitive control hubs in frontal and cingulate cortices predicts individual differences in the rate of learning on other days of practice. Our general statistical approach is applicable across other cognitive domains and provides a key to understanding time-resolved interactions between distributed neural circuits that enable task performance.
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29
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Dopamine Receptors Differentially Enhance Rule Coding in Primate Prefrontal Cortex Neurons. Neuron 2014; 84:1317-28. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/04/2014] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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30
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Abstract rule neurons in the endbrain support intelligent behaviour in corvid songbirds. Nat Commun 2014; 4:2878. [PMID: 24285080 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2013] [Accepted: 11/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the lack of a layered neocortex and fundamental differences in endbrain organization in birds compared with mammals, intelligent species evolved from both vertebrate classes. Among birds, corvids show exceptional cognitive flexibility. Here we explore the neuronal foundation of corvid cognition by recording single-unit activity from an association area known as the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) while carrion crows make flexible rule-guided decisions, a hallmark of executive control functions. The most prevalent activity in NCL represents the behavioural rules, while abstracting over sample images and sensory modalities of the rule cues. Rule coding is weaker in error trials, thus predicting the crows' behavioural decisions. This suggests that the abstraction of general principles may be an important function of the NCL, mirroring the function of primate prefrontal cortex. These findings emphasize that intelligence in vertebrates does not necessarily rely on a neocortex but can be realized in endbrain circuitries that developed independently via convergent evolution.
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31
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Pulvermüller F, Garagnani M, Wennekers T. Thinking in circuits: toward neurobiological explanation in cognitive neuroscience. BIOLOGICAL CYBERNETICS 2014; 108:573-93. [PMID: 24939580 PMCID: PMC4228116 DOI: 10.1007/s00422-014-0603-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2013] [Accepted: 03/28/2014] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive theory has decomposed human mental abilities into cognitive (sub) systems, and cognitive neuroscience succeeded in disclosing a host of relationships between cognitive systems and specific structures of the human brain. However, an explanation of why specific functions are located in specific brain loci had still been missing, along with a neurobiological model that makes concrete the neuronal circuits that carry thoughts and meaning. Brain theory, in particular the Hebb-inspired neurocybernetic proposals by Braitenberg, now offers an avenue toward explaining brain-mind relationships and to spell out cognition in terms of neuron circuits in a neuromechanistic sense. Central to this endeavor is the theoretical construct of an elementary functional neuronal unit above the level of individual neurons and below that of whole brain areas and systems: the distributed neuronal assembly (DNA) or thought circuit (TC). It is shown that DNA/TC theory of cognition offers an integrated explanatory perspective on brain mechanisms of perception, action, language, attention, memory, decision and conceptual thought. We argue that DNAs carry all of these functions and that their inner structure (e.g., core and halo subcomponents), and their functional activation dynamics (e.g., ignition and reverberation processes) answer crucial localist questions, such as why memory and decisions draw on prefrontal areas although memory formation is normally driven by information in the senses and in the motor system. We suggest that the ability of building DNAs/TCs spread out over different cortical areas is the key mechanism for a range of specifically human sensorimotor, linguistic and conceptual capacities and that the cell assembly mechanism of overlap reduction is crucial for differentiating a vocabulary of actions, symbols and concepts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Friedemann Pulvermüller
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion", Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany,
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32
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Brunamonti E, Mione V, Di Bello F, De Luna P, Genovesio A, Ferraina S. The NMDAr antagonist ketamine interferes with manipulation of information for transitive inference reasoning in non-human primates. J Psychopharmacol 2014; 28:881-7. [PMID: 24944084 DOI: 10.1177/0269881114538543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
One of the most remarkable traits of highly encephalized animals is their ability to manipulate knowledge flexibly to infer logical relationships. Operationally, the corresponding cognitive process can be defined as reasoning. One hypothesis is that this process relies on the reverberating activity of glutamate neural circuits, sustained by NMDA receptor (NMDAr) mediated synaptic transmission, in both parietal and prefrontal areas. We trained two macaque monkeys to perform a form of deductive reasoning - the transitive inference task - in which they were required to learn the relationship between six adjacent items in a single session and then deduct the relationship between nonadjacent items that had not been paired in the learning phase. When the animals had learned the sequence, we administered systemically a subanaesthetic dose of ketamine (a NMDAr antagonist) and measured their performance on learned and novel problems. We observed impairments in determining the relationship between novel pairs of items. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that transitive inference premises are integrated during learning in a unified representation and that reducing NMDAr activity interferes with the use of this mental model, when decisions are required in comparing pairs of items that have not been learned.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Valentina Mione
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Fabio Di Bello
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Paolo De Luna
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Aldo Genovesio
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Ferraina
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
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33
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Al-Baddai S, Al-Subari K, Tomé A, Volberg G, Hanslmayr S, Hammwöhner R, Lang E. Bidimensional ensemble empirical mode decomposition of functional biomedical images taken during a contour integration task. Biomed Signal Process Control 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bspc.2014.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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34
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Inhibitory control and error monitoring by human subthalamic neurons. Transl Psychiatry 2014; 4:e439. [PMID: 25203170 PMCID: PMC4203004 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2014.73] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2013] [Revised: 06/30/2014] [Accepted: 07/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been shown to be implicated in the control of voluntary action, especially during tasks involving conflicting choice alternatives or rapid response suppression. However, the precise role of the STN during nonmotor functions remains controversial. First, we tested whether functionally distinct neuronal populations support different executive control functions (such as inhibitory control or error monitoring) even within a single subterritory of the STN. We used microelectrode recordings during deep brain stimulation surgery to study extracellular activity of the putative associative-limbic part of the STN while patients with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder performed a stop-signal task. Second, 2-4 days after the surgery, local field potential recordings of STN were used to test the hypothesis that STN oscillations may also reflect executive control signals. Extracellular recordings revealed three functionally distinct neuronal populations: the first one fired selectively before and during motor responses, the second one selectively increased their firing rate during successful inhibitory control, and the last one fired selectively during error monitoring. Furthermore, we found that beta band activity (15-35 Hz) rapidly increased during correct and incorrect behavioral stopping. Taken together, our results provide critical electrophysiological support for the hypothesized role of the STN in the integration of motor and cognitive-executive control functions.
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35
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Moll FW, Nieder A. The long and the short of it: rule-based relative length discrimination in carrion crows, Corvus corone. Behav Processes 2014; 107:142-9. [PMID: 25151937 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2014] [Revised: 07/30/2014] [Accepted: 08/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Birds and other nonhuman animals can choose the larger of two discrete or continuous quantities. However, whether birds possess the conceptual grasp and cognitive control to flexibly switch between relative more-or-less-than judgments remains elusive. We therefore tested carrion crows in a rule-based line-length discrimination task to flexibly select lines presented on a touchscreen according to their relative length. In the first experiment, the crows needed to discriminate a shorter from a longer line, and vice versa. In the second experiment, the crows were required to choose a medium long line among three lines of different length (intermediate-size task). The crows switched effortlessly between "longer than/shorter than" rules, showing no signs of trial history affecting switching performance. They reliably chose the relatively longer and shorter line length, thus demonstrating a concept of greater than/less than with a continuous magnitude. However, both crows failed to discriminate a line of 'medium' length embedded in longer and shorter lines. These results indicate that relational discrimination exhibits different cognitive demands. While a greater than/less than concept requires only one relational comparison (with the respectively greater or smaller magnitude), the discrimination of a 'medium' magnitude demands to relate two or more comparisons, which might overburden crows and maybe animals in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix W Moll
- Animal Physiology, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Andreas Nieder
- Animal Physiology, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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36
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Eiselt AK, Nieder A. Rule Activity Related to Spatial and Numerical Magnitudes: Comparison of Prefrontal, Premotor, and Cingulate Motor Cortices. J Cogn Neurosci 2014; 26:1000-12. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
In everyday situations, quantitative rules, such as “greater than/less than,” need to be applied to a multitude of magnitude comparisons, be they sensory, spatial, temporal, or numerical. We have previously shown that rules applied to different magnitudes are encoded in the lateral PFC. To investigate if and how other frontal lobe areas also contribute to the encoding of quantitative rules applied to multiple magnitudes, we trained monkeys to switch between “greater than/less than” rules applied to either line lengths (spatial magnitudes) or dot numerosities (discrete numerical magnitudes). We recorded single-cell activity from the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) and cingulate motor cortex (CMA) and compared it with PFC activity. We found the largest proportion of quantitative rule-selective cells in PFC (24% of randomly selected cells), whereas neurons in dPMC and CMA rarely encoded the rule (6% of the cells). In addition, rule selectivity of individual cells was highest in PFC neurons compared with dPMC and CMA neurons. Rule-selective neurons that simultaneously represented the “greater than/less than” rules applied to line lengths and numerosities (“rule generalists”) were exclusively present in PFC. In dPMC and CMA, however, neurons primarily encoded rules applied to only one of the two magnitude types (“rule specialists”). Our data suggest a special involvement of PFC in representing quantitative rules at an abstract level, both in terms of the proportion of neurons engaged and the coding capacities.
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Bonté E, Kemp C, Fagot J. Age effects on transfer index performance and executive control in baboons (Papio papio). Front Psychol 2014; 5:188. [PMID: 24624114 PMCID: PMC3941012 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2013] [Accepted: 02/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Reversal performance in the transfer index (TI) task is known to improve from prosimians to apes, suggesting that this task is a marker of cognitive evolution within the primate taxa (Rumbaugh, 1970). However, the cognitive processes recruited by this task remain unclear. In the present study, 19 socially-housed baboons (Papio papio) from 1.6 to 14.3 years of age were tested on a computerized version of the TI task, using an automated self-testing procedure. Age was a significant factor in the level of success, with the younger baboons outperforming the adults. The younger baboons learned the pre-reversal discrimination faster and improved their post-reversal performance more rapidly than adult baboons. As 17 of these baboons had already been tested in previous studies on inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility tasks, comparison across tasks provide indicators of the underlying cognitive processes. Age variations in performance were similar between the TI task and in an adaptation of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) measuring cognitive flexibility (Bonté et al., 2011). This contrasts previous results from a task requiring motor inhibitory control (Fagot et al., 2011). Therefore, these findings suggest that cognitive flexibility was a central component of the cognitive system that evolved within non-human primates. They also implicate a decline in executive control with age that begins during early adulthood in this baboon species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elodie Bonté
- Aix-Marseille University and CNRS Marseille, France ; Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France ; Federation de Recherche 3C, Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France
| | - Caralyn Kemp
- Aix-Marseille University and CNRS Marseille, France ; Brain and Language Research Institute Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Joël Fagot
- Aix-Marseille University and CNRS Marseille, France ; Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France ; Federation de Recherche 3C, Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France ; Brain and Language Research Institute Aix-en-Provence, France
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Tolkunov BF, Orlov AA, Filatova EV, Afanasyev SV. The amount and composition of monkey parietal cortex neurons that are active during functionally different behaviors. DOKLADY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES : PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SECTIONS 2013; 450:117-9. [PMID: 23821045 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496613030022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- B F Tolkunov
- Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
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Porsolt RD. The usefulness of non-human primates in central nervous system safety pharmacology. J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods 2013; 68:23-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vascn.2013.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2013] [Revised: 02/18/2013] [Accepted: 03/06/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Representation of abstract quantitative rules applied to spatial and numerical magnitudes in primate prefrontal cortex. J Neurosci 2013; 33:7526-34. [PMID: 23616557 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.5827-12.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Processing quantity information based on abstract principles is central to intelligent behavior. Neural correlates of quantitative rule selectivity have been identified previously in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, whether individual neurons represent rules applied to multiple magnitude types is unknown. We recorded from PFC neurons while monkeys switched between "greater than/less than" rules applied to spatial and numerical magnitudes. A majority of rule-selective neurons responded only to the quantitative rules applied to one specific magnitude type. However, another population of neurons generalized the magnitude principle and represented the quantitative rules related to both magnitudes. This indicates that the primate brain uses rule-selective neurons specialized in guiding decisions related to a specific magnitude type only, as well as generalizing neurons that respond abstractly to the overarching concept "magnitude rules."
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Treasure J, Schmidt U. The cognitive-interpersonal maintenance model of anorexia nervosa revisited: a summary of the evidence for cognitive, socio-emotional and interpersonal predisposing and perpetuating factors. J Eat Disord 2013; 1:13. [PMID: 24999394 PMCID: PMC4081714 DOI: 10.1186/2050-2974-1-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 364] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2012] [Accepted: 02/03/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
AIM To describe the evidence base relating to the Cognitive-Interpersonal Maintenance Model for anorexia nervosa (AN). BACKGROUND A Cognitive-Interpersonal Maintenance Model maintenance model for anorexia nervosa was described in 2006. This model proposed that cognitive, socio-emotional and interpersonal elements acted together to both cause and maintain eating disorders. METHOD A review of the empirical literature relating to the key constructs of the model (cognitive, socio-emotional, interpersonal) risk and maintaining factors for anorexia nervosa was conducted. RESULTS Set shifting and weak central coherence (associated with obsessive compulsive traits) have been widely studied. There is some evidence to suggest that a strong eye for detail and weak set shifting are inherited vulnerabilities to AN. Set shifting and global integration are impaired in the ill state and contribute to weak central coherence. In addition, there are wide-ranging impairments in socio-emotional processing including: an automatic bias in attention towards critical and domineering faces and away from compassionate faces; impaired signalling of, interpretation and regulation of emotions. Difficulties in social cognition may in part be a consequence of starvation but inherited vulnerabilities may also contribute to these traits. The shared familial traits may accentuate family members' tendency to react to the frustrating and frightening symptoms of AN with high expressed emotion (criticism, hostility, overprotection), and inadvertently perpetuate the problem. CONCLUSION The cognitive interpersonal model is supported by accumulating evidence. The model is complex in that cognitive and socio-emotional factors both predispose to the illness and are exaggerated in the ill state. Furthermore, some of the traits are inherited vulnerabilities and are present in family members. The clinical formulations from the model are described as are new possibilities for targeted treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janet Treasure
- Department of Psychological Medicine, King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, The Basement, P059, 103 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Ulrike Schmidt
- Department of Psychological Medicine, King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, The Basement, P059, 103 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK
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Mitani A, Sasaki R, Oizumi M, Uka T. A leaky-integrator model as a control mechanism underlying flexible decision making during task switching. PLoS One 2013; 8:e59670. [PMID: 23533641 PMCID: PMC3606137 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2012] [Accepted: 02/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to switch between tasks is critical for animals to behave according to context. Although the association between the prefrontal cortex and task switching has been well documented, the ultimate modulation of sensory–motor associations has yet to be determined. Here, we modeled the results of a previous study showing that task switching can be accomplished by communication from distinct populations of sensory neurons. We proposed a leaky-integrator model where relevant and irrelevant information were stored separately in two integrators and task switching was achieved by leaking information from the irrelevant integrator. The model successfully explained both the behavioral and neuronal data. Additionally, the leaky-integrator model showed better performance than an alternative model, where irrelevant information was discarded by decreasing the weight on irrelevant information, when animals initially failed to commit to a task. Overall, we propose that flexible switching is, in part, achieved by actively controlling the amount of leak of relevant and irrelevant information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akinori Mitani
- Department of Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Ryo Sasaki
- Department of Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States of America
| | - Masafumi Oizumi
- Laboratory for Mathematical Neuroscience, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Saitama, Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Takanori Uka
- Department of Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
- * E-mail:
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Kamigaki T, Fukushima T, Tamura K, Miyashita Y. Neurodynamics of Cognitive Set Shifting in Monkey Frontal Cortex and Its Causal Impact on Behavioral Flexibility. J Cogn Neurosci 2012; 24:2171-85. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Flexible behavior depends on the ability to shift an internal cognitive set as soon as external demand changes. According to neuropsychological studies in human and nonhuman primates, selective lesion to the PFC impairs flexible behavioral shifting. Our previous fMRI study demonstrated that the prefrontal regions showed transient activation related to set shifting in humans and monkeys. To investigate the underlying neural processing, we recorded single-unit activities while monkeys performed a cognitive-set-shifting task, which required shifting between shape-matching and color-matching behaviors. We identified a group of neurons in the inferior arcuate region that exhibited selective activity when the monkeys were required to shift their cognitive set. These shift-related neurons were localized in the focal area along the posterior bank of the inferior arcuate sulcus. Reversible inactivation of this area ipsilateral to the response hand with a small volume of muscimol (even with 0.5 μl) selectively impaired the performance of behavioral shifting. Moreover, this selective behavioral impairment strongly correlated with the dose of muscimol. These results demonstrated localized neural processing for cognitive set shifting and its causal role for behavioral flexibility in primates.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Yasushi Miyashita
- 1The University of Tokyo School of Medicine
- 2Japan Science and Technology Agency
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Poljac E, Bekkering H. A review of intentional and cognitive control in autism. Front Psychol 2012; 3:436. [PMID: 23112781 PMCID: PMC3481002 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2012] [Accepted: 10/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Different clinical studies have provided empirical evidence for impairments in cognitive control in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The challenge arises, however, when trying to specify the neurocognitive mechanisms behind the reported observations of deviant patterns of goal-directed behavior in ASD. Studies trying to test specific assumptions by applying designs that are based on a more controlled experimental conditions often fail in providing strong evidence for an impairment in specific cognitive functions. In this review, we summarize and critically reflect on behavioral findings and their theoretical explanations regarding cognitive control processing in autism, also from a developmental perspective. The specific focus of this review is the recent evidence of deficits in intentional control – a specific subset of cognitive control processes that biases the choice of our behavioral goals – coming from different research fields. We relate this evidence to the cognitive rigidity observed in ASD and argue that individuals with ASD experience problems at the intentional level rather than at the level of implementation of intentions. Both these processes are related to cognitive control mechanisms but in different ways. Finally, we discuss new directions in studying cognitive control in ASD and how these relate to adaptive cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edita Poljac
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford Oxford, UK
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Nieder A. Coding of abstract quantity by 'number neurons' of the primate brain. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2012; 199:1-16. [PMID: 23052854 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-012-0763-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2012] [Revised: 09/25/2012] [Accepted: 09/26/2012] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Humans share with nonhuman animals a quantification system for representing the number of items as nonverbal mental magnitudes. Over the past decade, the anatomical substrates and neuronal mechanisms of this quantification system have been unraveled down to the level of single neurons. Work with behaviorally trained nonhuman primates identified a parieto-frontal cortical network with individual neurons selectively tuned to the number of items. Such 'number neurons' can track items across space, time, and modality to encode numerosity in a most abstract, supramodal way. The physiological properties of these neurons can explain fundamental psychophysical phenomena during numerosity judgments. Functionally overlapping groups of parietal neurons represent not only numerable-discrete quantity (numerosity), but also innumerable-continuous quantity (extent) and relations between quantities (proportions), supporting the idea of a generalized magnitude system in the brain. These studies establish putative homologies between the monkey and human brain and demonstrate the suitability of nonhuman primates as model system to explore the neurobiological roots of the brain's nonverbal quantification system, which may constitute the evolutionary foundation of all further, more elaborate numerical skills in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Nieder
- Animal Physiology, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
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Li L, Wang M, Zhao QJ, Fogelson N. Neural mechanisms underlying the cost of task switching: an ERP study. PLoS One 2012; 7:e42233. [PMID: 22860090 PMCID: PMC3408496 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2011] [Accepted: 07/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background When switching from one task to a new one, reaction times are prolonged. This phenomenon is called switch cost (SC). Researchers have recently used several kinds of task-switching paradigms to uncover neural mechanisms underlying the SC. Task-set reconfiguration and passive dissipation of a previously relevant task-set have been reported to contribute to the cost of task switching. Methodology/Principal Findings An unpredictable cued task-switching paradigm was used, during which subjects were instructed to switch between a color and an orientation discrimination task. Electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral measures were recorded in 14 subjects. Response-stimulus interval (RSI) and cue-stimulus interval (CSI) were manipulated with short and long intervals, respectively. Switch trials delayed reaction times (RTs) and increased error rates compared with repeat trials. The SC of RTs was smaller in the long CSI condition. For cue-locked waveforms, switch trials generated a larger parietal positive event-related potential (ERP), and a larger slow parietal positivity compared with repeat trials in the short and long CSI condition. Neural SC of cue-related ERP positivity was smaller in the long RSI condition. For stimulus-locked waveforms, a larger switch-related central negative ERP component was observed, and the neural SC of the ERP negativity was smaller in the long CSI. Results of standardized low resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) for both ERP positivity and negativity showed that switch trials evoked larger activation than repeat trials in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC). Conclusions/Significance The results provide evidence that both RSI and CSI modulate the neural activities in the process of task-switching, but that these have a differential role during task-set reconfiguration and passive dissipation of a previously relevant task-set.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Li
- Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
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Numerical rule coding in the prefrontal, premotor, and posterior parietal cortices of macaques. J Neurosci 2012; 32:6621-30. [PMID: 22573684 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.5071-11.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Switching flexibly between behavioral goals is a hallmark of executive control and requires integration of external and internal information. We recorded single-neuron correlates of different numerical representations (sensory-, working memory-, and rule-related activity) in the dorsal premotor area (PMd), the cingulate motor areas (CMA), and the ventral intraparietal sulcus (VIP) and compared them to previous recordings in the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). Two monkeys were trained to encode and memorize numerosities and flexibly switch between two abstract quantitative rules based on rule cues. Almost 20% of randomly selected PFC and PMd neurons significantly represented the numerical rule in a behaviorally relevant manner, approximately twice as many as in the CMA and VIP. Rule selectivity was significantly better for PMd neurons than for PFC cells. Seemingly at the expense of rule selectivity, however, sensory- and memory-related numerosity activity was greatly diminished compared with previous delayed match-to-numerosity studies. These findings suggest the involvement of the frontal premotor areas in strategic planning such as rule following. Moreover, the results emphasize that the coding capacities of neurons in association cortical areas are far more dynamic depending on task demands than previously thought.
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Abstract
AbstractComparing cognitive functions between humans and nonhuman primates is helpful for understanding human tool use. We comment on the latest insights from comparative research on executive control functions. Based on our own work, we discuss how even a mental function in which non-human primates outperform humans might have played a key role in the development of tool use.
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Executive control over cognition: stronger and earlier rule-based modulation of spatial category signals in prefrontal cortex relative to parietal cortex. J Neurosci 2012; 32:3499-515. [PMID: 22399773 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3585-11.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cognition is characterized by flexibility, the ability to select not only which action but which cognitive process to engage to best achieve the current behavioral objective. The ability to tailor information processing in the brain to rules, goals, or context is typically referred to as executive control, and although there is consensus that prefrontal cortex is importantly involved, at present we have an incomplete understanding of how computational flexibility is implemented at the level of prefrontal neurons and networks. To better understand the neural mechanisms of computational flexibility, we simultaneously recorded the electrical activity of groups of single neurons within prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex of monkeys performing a task that required executive control of spatial cognitive processing. In this task, monkeys applied different spatial categorization rules to reassign the same set of visual stimuli to alternative categories on a trial-by-trial basis. We found that single neurons were activated to represent spatially defined categories in a manner that was rule dependent, providing a physiological signature of a cognitive process that was implemented under executive control. We found also that neural signals coding rule-dependent categories were distributed between the parietal and prefrontal cortex--however, not equally. Rule-dependent category signals were stronger, more powerfully modulated by the rule, and earlier to emerge in prefrontal cortex relative to parietal cortex. This suggests that prefrontal cortex may initiate the switch in neural representation at a network level that is important for computational flexibility.
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Executive control of perceptual features and abstract relations by baboons (Papio papio). Behav Brain Res 2011; 222:176-82. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.03.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2011] [Revised: 03/10/2011] [Accepted: 03/14/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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