Conflict monitoring and cognitive control

Behavioral and neural measures of semantic conflict monitoring: Findings from a novel picture-word interference task

Conflict monitoring has been studied extensively using experimental paradigms that manipulate perceptual dimensions of stimuli and responses. The picture-word interference (PWI) task has historically been used to examine semantic conflict, but primarily for the purpose of examining lexical retrieval. In this study, we utilized two novel PWI tasks to assess conflict monitoring in the context of semantic conflict. Participants included nineteen young adults (14F, age = 20.79 ± 3.14) who completed two tasks: Animals and Objects. Task and conflict effects were assessed by examining behavioral (reaction time and accuracy) and neurophysiological (oscillations in theta, alpha, and beta band) measures. Results revealed conflict effects within both tasks, but the pattern of findings differed across the two semantic categories. Participants were slower to respond to unmatched versus matched trials on the Objects task only and were less accurate responding to matched versus unmatched trials in the Animals task only. We also observed task differences, with participants responding more accurately on conflict trials for Animals compared to Objects. Differences in neural oscillations were observed, including between-task differences in low beta oscillations and within-task differences in theta, alpha, and low beta. We also observed significant correlations between task performance and standard measures of cognitive control. This work provides new insights into conflict monitoring, highlighting the importance of examining conflict across different semantic categories, especially in the context of animacy. The findings serve as a benchmark to assess conflict monitoring using PWI tasks across populations of varying cognitive ability.

Enhancement of visual dominance effects at the response level in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Previous studies have widely demonstrated that individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit deficits in conflict control tasks. However, there is limited evidence regarding the performance of children with ADHD in cross-modal conflict processing tasks. The current study aimed to investigate whether children with ADHD have poor conflict control, which has an impact on sensory dominance effects at different levels of information processing under the influence of visual similarity. A total of 82 children aged 7 to 14 years, including 41 children with ADHD and 41 age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) children, were recruited. We used the 2:1 mapping paradigm to separate levels of conflict, and the congruency of the audiovisual stimuli was divided into three conditions. In C trials, the target stimulus and the distractor stimulus were identical, and the bimodal stimuli corresponded to the same response keys. In PRIC trials, the distractor stimulus differed from the target stimulus and did not correspond to any response keys. In RIC trials, the distractor stimulus differed from the target stimulus, and the bimodal stimuli corresponded to different response keys. Therefore, we explicitly differentiated cross-modal conflict into a preresponse level (PRIC > C), corresponding to the encoding process, and a response level (RIC > PRIC), corresponding to the response selection process. Our results suggested that auditory distractors caused more interference during visual processing than visual distractors caused during auditory processing (i.e., typical auditory dominance) at the preresponse level regardless of group. However, visual dominance effects were observed in the ADHD group, whereas no visual dominance effects were observed in the TD group at the response level. A possible explanation is that the increased interference effects due to visual similarity and children with ADHD made it more difficult to control conflict when simultaneously confronted with incongruent visual and auditory inputs. The current study highlights how children with ADHD process cross-modal conflicts at multiple levels of information processing, thereby shedding light on the mechanisms underlying ADHD.

Post-error adjustments occur in both reaching and grasping

Post-error slowing (PES), the tendency to slow down a behavioral response after a previous error, has typically been investigated during simple cognitive tasks using response time as a measure of PES magnitude. More recently, PES was investigated during a single reach-to-grasp task to determine where post-error adjustments are employed in a more ecological setting. Kinematic analyses in the previous study detected PES during pre-movement planning and within the grasping component of movement execution. In the current study (N = 22), we increased the cognitive demands of a reach-to-grasp task by adding a choice between target and distractor locations to further explore PES, and other post-error adjustments, under different task conditions. We observed a significant main effect of task condition on overall reaction time (RT); however, it did not significantly impact PES or other post-error adjustments. Nonetheless, the results of this study suggest post-error adjustment is a flexible process that can be observed during pre-movement planning and within the onset and magnitude of the reaching component, as well as in the magnitudes of the grasping component. Considering the sum of the results in the context of existing literature, we conclude that the findings add support to a functional account of error reactivity, such that post-error adjustments are implemented intentionally to improve performance.

Task-general or specific: The alertness modulates post-error adjustment

Previous studies have shown that alertness is closely related to executive control function, but its impact on components of post-error adjustment is unknown. This study applied the Attentional Networks Test and the Four-choice Flanker task with three response stimulus intervals (RSIs) to explore the correlation between alertness and post-error adjustment. The linear mixed-effects model of alertness and RSI on the post-error processing indicators showed a significant negative correlation between the alertness and post-error slowing (PES) under 200 ms RSI , as well as between alertness and post-error improvement in accuracy (PIA) under both 700 ms RSI and 1200 ms RSI. Participants with lower alertness showed larger post-error slowing in the early stages, while those with higher alertness had smaller PIA in later stages. This study revealed the effects of alertness on different processing components of post-error adjustment. The control strategies utilized by individuals with high and low levels of alertness differed in preparation for performance monitoring. Alertness improved post-error response speed in a task-unspecific manner, but not post-error adaptation.

The neural mechanism of communication between graduate students and advisers in different adviser-advisee relationships

Communication is crucial in constructing the relationship between students and advisers, ultimately bridging interpersonal interactions. Only a few studies however explore the communication between postgraduate students and advisers. To fill the gaps in the empirical researches, this study uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS) techniques to explore the neurophysiology differences in brain activation of postgraduates with different adviser-advise relationships during simulated communication with their advisers. Results showed significant differences in the activation of the prefrontal cortex between high-quality and the low-quality students during simulating and when communicating with advisers, specifically in the Broca's areas, the frontal pole, and the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. This further elucidated the complex cognitive process of communication between graduate students and advisers.

Belief inference for hierarchical hidden states in spatial navigation

Uncertainty abounds in the real world, and in environments with multiple layers of unobservable hidden states, decision-making requires resolving uncertainties based on mutual inference. Focusing on a spatial navigation problem, we develop a Tiger maze task that involved simultaneously inferring the local hidden state and the global hidden state from probabilistically uncertain observation. We adopt a Bayesian computational approach by proposing a hierarchical inference model. Applying this to human task behaviour, alongside functional magnetic resonance brain imaging, allows us to separate the neural correlates associated with reinforcement and reassessment of belief in hidden states. The imaging results also suggest that different layers of uncertainty differentially involve the basal ganglia and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and that the regions responsible are organised along the rostral axis of these areas according to the type of inference and the level of abstraction of the hidden state, i.e. higher-order state inference involves more anterior parts.

The Impact of Skill Level on the Integration of Information and Post-Error Adjustment during Action Anticipation in Basketball

The present study examined the impact of skill level on the integration of contextual prior information and kinematic information alongside post-error adjustment during action anticipation in basketball. Twenty-three collegiate basketball players and twenty-three control participants engaged in anticipating as quickly and accurately as possible the outcomes of free throws, utilizing video clips depicting basketball players' actions, both with and without contextual prior information. Anticipatory performance and the difference in anticipatory performance following errors and correct responses were analyzed based on skill level and the congruency of contextual prior information (none, congruent, and incongruent). The findings revealed that the congruency of contextual prior information significantly affects action anticipation, with skill level moderating this effect. Moreover, skill level influenced the congruency effect on accuracy discrepancies between post-error and post-correct trials during action anticipation, with controls showing greater sensitivity to previous trial performance compared to experts. These results provide further evidence for the notion that individuals employ Bayesian reliability-based strategies to integrate different information sources and underscore the role of skill level in adjusting anticipatory judgments following errors during action anticipation. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms that differentiate skill levels in action anticipation, potentially guiding the development of targeted training interventions.

Intermixed levels of visual search difficulty produce asymmetric probability learning

When performing novel tasks, we often apply the rules we have learned from previous, similar tasks. Knowing when to generalize previous knowledge, however, is a complex challenge. In this study, we investigated the properties of learning generalization in a visual search task, focusing on the role of search difficulty. We used a spatial probability learning paradigm in which individuals learn to prioritize their search toward the locations where a target appears more often (i.e., high-probable location) than others (i.e., low-probable location) in a search display. In the first experiment, during a training phase, we intermixed the easy and difficult search trials within blocks, and each was respectively paired with a distinct high-probable location. Then, during a testing phase, we removed the probability manipulation and assessed any generalization of spatial biases to a novel, intermediate difficulty task. Results showed that, as training progressed, the easy search evoked a stronger spatial bias to its high-probable location than the difficult search. Moreover, there was greater generalization of the easy search learning than difficult search learning at test, revealed by a stronger bias toward the former's high-probable location. Two additional experiments ruled out alternatives that learning during difficult search itself is weak and learning during easy search specifically weakens learning of the difficult search. Overall, the results demonstrate that easy search interferes with difficult search learning and generalizability when the two levels of search difficulty are intermixed.

The Effect of Rhythmic Audio-Visual Stimulation on Inhibitory Control: An ERP Study

Inhibitory control, as an essential cognitive ability, affects the development of higher cognitive functions. Rhythmic perceptual stimulation has been used to improve cognitive abilities. It is unclear, however, whether it can be used to improve inhibitory control. This study used the Go/NoGo task and the Stroop task to assess various levels of inhibitory control using rhythmic audio-visual stimuli as the stimulus mode. Sixty subjects were randomly divided into three groups to receive 6 Hz, 10 Hz, and white noise stimulation for 30 min. Two tasks were completed by each subject both before and after the stimulus. Before and after the task, closed-eye resting EEG data were collected. The results showed no differences in behavioral and EEG measures of the Go/NoGo task among the three groups. While both 6 Hz and 10 Hz audio-visual stimulation reduced the conflict effect in the Stroop task, only 6 Hz audio-visual stimulation improved the amplitude of the N2 component and decreased the conflict score. Although rhythmic audio-visual stimulation did not enhance response inhibition, it improved conflict inhibition.

Transfer of cognitive control adjustments within and between speakers

Congruency effects in conflict tasks are typically larger after congruent compared to incongruent trials. This congruency sequence effect (CSE) indicates that top-down adjustments of cognitive control transfer between processing episodes, at least when controlling for bottom-up memory processes by alternating between stimulus-response (S-R) sets in confound-minimised designs. According to the control-retrieval account, cognitive control is bound to task-irrelevant context features (e.g., stimulus position or modality) and retrieved upon subsequent context feature repetitions. A confound-minimised CSE should therefore be larger when context features repeat rather than change between two trials. This study tested this prediction for a more abstract contextual stimulus feature, speaker gender. In two preregistered auditory prime-probe task experiments, participants classified colour words spoken by a female or male voice. Across both experiments, we found confound-minimised CSEs that were not reliably affected by whether the speaker gender repeated or changed. This indicates that speaker transitions have virtually no influence on the transfer of control adjustments in the absence of S-R repetitions. By contrast, when allowing for bottom-up memory processes by repeating the S-R set, CSEs were consistently larger when the speaker gender repeated compared to changed. This suggests that speaker transitions can in principle influence transfer between processing episodes. The discrepancy also held true when considering learning and test episodes separated by an intervening episode. Thus, the present findings call for a refinement of the control-retrieval account to accommodate the role of more abstract contextual stimulus features for the maintenance of memory traces in auditory conflict processing.

Flexible processing of distractor stimuli under stress

Acute stress is assumed to affect executive processing of stimulus information, although extant studies have yielded heterogeneous findings. The temporal flanker task, in which a target stimulus is preceded by a distractor of varying utility, offers a means of investigating various components involved in the adjustment of information processing and conflict control. Both behavioral and EEG data obtained with this task suggest stronger distractor-related response activation in conditions associated with higher predictivity of the distractor for the upcoming target. In two experiments we investigated distractor-related processing and conflict control after inducing acute stress (Trier Social Stress Test). Although the stressed groups did not differ significantly from unstressed control groups concerning behavioral markers of attentional adjustment (i.e., Proportion Congruent Effect), or event-related sensory components in the EEG (i.e., posterior P1 and N1), the lateralized readiness potential demonstrated reduced activation evoked by (predictive) distractor information under stress. Our results suggest flexible adjustment of attention under stress but hint at decreased usage of nominally irrelevant stimulus information for biasing response selection.

Tracing conflict-induced cognitive-control adjustments over time using aperiodic EEG activity

Cognitive-control theories assume that the experience of response conflict can trigger control adjustments. However, while some approaches focus on adjustments that impact the selection of the present response (in trial N), other approaches focus on adjustments in the next upcoming trial  (N + 1). We aimed to trace control adjustments over time by quantifying cortical noise by means of the fitting oscillations and one over f algorithm, a measure of aperiodic activity. As predicted, conflict trials increased the aperiodic exponent in a large sample of 171 healthy adults, thus indicating noise reduction. While this adjustment was visible in trial N already, it did not affect response selection before the next trial. This suggests that control adjustments do not affect ongoing response-selection processes but prepare the system for tighter control in the next trial. We interpret the findings in terms of a conflict-induced switch from metacontrol flexibility to metacontrol persistence, accompanied or even implemented by a reduction of cortical noise.

Distinct neural markers of evidence accumulation index metacognitive processing before and after simple visual decisions

Perceptual decision-making is affected by uncertainty arising from the reliability of incoming sensory evidence (perceptual uncertainty) and the categorization of that evidence relative to a choice boundary (categorical uncertainty). Here, we investigated how these factors impact the temporal dynamics of evidence processing during decision-making and subsequent metacognitive judgments. Participants performed a motion discrimination task while electroencephalography was recorded. We manipulated perceptual uncertainty by varying motion coherence, and categorical uncertainty by varying the angular offset of motion signals relative to a criterion. After each trial, participants rated their desire to change their mind. High uncertainty impaired perceptual and metacognitive judgments and reduced the amplitude of the centro-parietal positivity, a neural marker of evidence accumulation. Coherence and offset affected the centro-parietal positivity at different time points, suggesting that perceptual and categorical uncertainty affect decision-making in sequential stages. Moreover, the centro-parietal positivity predicted participants' metacognitive judgments: larger predecisional centro-parietal positivity amplitude was associated with less desire to change one's mind, whereas larger postdecisional centro-parietal positivity amplitude was associated with greater desire to change one's mind, but only following errors. These findings reveal a dissociation between predecisional and postdecisional evidence processing, suggesting that the CPP tracks potentially distinct cognitive processes before and after a decision.

A spatial version of the Stroop task for examining proactive and reactive control independently from non-conflict processes

Conflict-induced control refers to humans' ability to regulate attention in the processing of target information (e.g., the color of a word in the color-word Stroop task) based on experience with conflict created by distracting information (e.g., an incongruent color word), and to do so either in a proactive (preparatory) or a reactive (stimulus-driven) fashion. Interest in conflict-induced control has grown recently, as has the awareness that effects attributed to those processes might be affected by conflict-unrelated processes (e.g., the learning of stimulus-response associations). This awareness has resulted in the recommendation to move away from traditional interference paradigms with small stimulus/response sets and towards paradigms with larger sets (at least four targets, distractors, and responses), paradigms that allow better control of non-conflict processes. Using larger sets, however, is not always feasible. Doing so in the Stroop task, for example, would require either multiple arbitrary responses that are difficult for participants to learn (e.g., manual responses to colors) or non-arbitrary responses that can be difficult for researchers to collect (e.g., vocal responses in online experiments). Here, we present a spatial version of the Stroop task that solves many of those problems. In this task, participants respond to one of six directions indicated by an arrow, each requiring a specific, non-arbitrary manual response, while ignoring the location where the arrow is displayed. We illustrate the usefulness of this task by showing the results of two experiments in which evidence for proactive and reactive control was obtained while controlling for the impact of non-conflict processes.

Atypical characteristic changes of surface morphology and structural covariance network in developmental dyslexia

BACKGROUND

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties with all aspects of information acquisition in the written word, including slow and inaccurate word recognition. The neural basis behind DD has not been fully elucidated.

METHOD

The study included 22 typically developing (TD) children, 16 children with isolated spelling disorder (SpD), and 20 children with DD. The cortical thickness, folding index, and mean curvature of Broca's area, including the triangular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFGtriang) and the opercular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus, were assessed to explore the differences of surface morphology among the TD, SpD, and DD groups. Furthermore, the structural covariance network (SCN) of the triangular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus was analyzed to explore the changes of structural connectivity in the SpD and DD groups.

RESULTS

The DD group showed higher curvature and cortical folding of the left IFGtriang than the TD group and SpD group. In addition, compared with the TD group and the SpD group, the structural connectivity between the left IFGtriang and the left middle-frontal gyrus and the right mid-orbital frontal gyrus was increased in the DD group, and the structural connectivity between the left IFGtriang and the right precuneus and anterior cingulate was decreased in the DD group.

CONCLUSION

DD had atypical structural connectivity in brain regions related to visual attention, memory and which might impact the information input and integration needed for reading and spelling.

Proactive and Reactive Inhibitory Control Strategies: Exploring the Impact of Interindividual Variables on an ERP Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT)

According to the Dual Mechanisms of Control (DMC) framework, cognitive control can be divided into two strategies: proactive cognitive control, which relies mainly on the active maintenance of contextual information relevant to the ongoing task; and reactive cognitive control, which is a form of transient control triggered by an external cue. Although cognitive control has been studied extensively, little is known about the specificities of inhibition within the framework of the DMC model and the influence of interindividual variables on inhibitory control.Thanks to an inhibitory version of the continuous performance task (CPT), we studied behavioral performances and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) related to proactive and reactive inhibition, and their links to psychological profile and cognitive performances. One hundred and five young adults underwent the task, along with a short clinical and cognitive evaluation.We were able to observe ERPs related to proactive (cue-N1, cue-N2, cue-P3, and the contingent negative variation) and reactive inhibitory control (target-N2 and target-P3). Our results showed that proactive strategies appeared to be linked with impulsivity, working memory abilities, dominant response inhibition, gender, and the consumption pattern of nicotine. Reactive strategies appeared to be linked with attentional and working memories abilities.Overall, the inhibitory AX-CPT allowed a specific investigation of cognitive control within the framework of the DMC based on behavioral and ERP variables. This provided us an opportunity to investigate the principal ERP components related to proactive and reactive inhibitory control strategies as well as to link them with specific clinical and cognitive variables.

Connection of social anxiety to impaired pattern of cognitive control and underlying motivational deficiencies: Evidence from event-related potentials

Numerous studies have established a correlation between social anxiety and poor cognitive control. However, little is known about the cognitive control pattern of individuals with high social anxiety (HSAs) and the underlying mechanisms. Based on the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework and the Expected Value of Control theory, this study explored whether HSAs have an impaired cognitive control pattern (Experiment 1) and whether motivational deficiencies underlie the impaired control pattern (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 21 individuals with low social anxiety (LSAs) and 21 HSAs completed an AX-Continuous Performance Task. Results showed that HSAs had a smaller P3b amplitude than LSAs, indicating their weakened proactive control in the cue processing stage, but a larger contingent negative variation (CNV) on cue B as compensation for the negative effects of anxiety in the response preparation stage. No group difference was found in N2 and P3a amplitude on probes, suggesting that reactive control in HSAs was not affected compared to LSAs. In Experiment 2, 21 LSAs and 21 HSAs completed a cued-flanker task, where the likelihood of proactive control engagement was manipulated. The results revealed that HSAs exhibited motivation deficiencies in engaging in proactive control, as evidenced by P3b, CNV amplitude, and response times. These findings shed light on the impaired cognitive control pattern of HSAs and suggest that motivational deficiencies may be the crucial underlying factor.

The neutral condition in conflict tasks: On the violation of the midpoint assumption in reaction time trends

Although the relation between congruent and incongruent conditions in conflict tasks has been the primary focus of cognitive control studies, the neutral condition is often set as a baseline directly between the two conditions. However, empirical evidence suggests that the average neutral reaction time (RT) is not placed evenly between the two opposing conditions. This article set out to establish two things: First, to reinforce the informative nature of the neutral condition and second, to highlight how it can be useful for modelling. We explored how RT in the neutral condition of conflict tasks (Stroop, Flanker, and Simon Tasks) deviated from the predictions of current diffusion models. Current diffusion models of conflict tasks predict a neutral RT that is the average of the congruent and incongruent RT, called the midpoint assumption. To investigate this, we first conducted a cursory limited search that recorded the average RT's of conflict tasks with neutral conditions. Upon finding evidence of a midpoint assumption violation which showed a larger disparity between average neutral and incongruent RT, we tested the previously mentioned conflict tasks with two different sets of stimuli to establish the robustness of the effect. The midpoint assumption violation is sometimes inconsistent with the prediction of diffusion models of conflict processing (e.g., the Diffusion Model of Conflict), suggesting possible elaborations of such models.

Hierarchical control over foraging behavior by anterior cingulate cortex

Foraging is a natural behavior that involves making sequential decisions to maximize rewards while minimizing the costs incurred when doing so. The prevalence of foraging across species suggests that a common brain computation underlies its implementation. Although anterior cingulate cortex is believed to contribute to foraging behavior, its specific role has been contentious, with predominant theories arguing either that it encodes environmental value or choice difficulty. Additionally, recent attempts to characterize foraging have taken place within the reinforcement learning framework, with increasingly complex models scaling with task complexity. Here we review reinforcement learning foraging models, highlighting the hierarchical structure of many foraging problems. We extend this literature by proposing that ACC guides foraging according to principles of model-based hierarchical reinforcement learning. This idea holds that ACC function is organized hierarchically along a rostral-caudal gradient, with rostral structures monitoring the status and completion of high-level task goals (like finding food), and midcingulate structures overseeing the execution of task options (subgoals, like harvesting fruit) and lower-level actions (such as grabbing an apple).

The role of spatial uncertainty in the context-specific proportion congruency effect

The prime-probe version of the Stroop task has been predominantly used to demonstrate the context-specific proportion congruency (CSPC) effect. In this version, the location of the color is not known until its presentation, creating a spatial uncertainty for the color dimension. We propose that spatial uncertainty plays an important role in observing the CSPC effect. In this study, we investigated the role of spatial uncertainty with two experiments. In Experiment 1 (N = 53), we used a spatially separated version of the Stroop task having spatial uncertainty on the color dimension, and observed a significant CSPC effect. For Experiment 2, we conducted a preregistered prime-probe CSPC experiment with a considerably large sample (N = 128), eliminating the uncertainty of only the color dimension in one condition and both the color and the word dimensions in the other. Results showed that the CSPC effect was not observed in the first condition, while it was very small yet significant in the second condition. The Bayesian approach confirmed frequentist analyses of Experiment 1 and the first condition of Experiment 2. However, in the second condition of Experiment 2, there was no evidence regarding the existence of the CSPC effect. These findings support our claim that the spatial uncertainty of the color dimension, inherent in the prime-probe version Stroop task, contributed to the CSPC effect.

Joint contributions of preview and task instructions on visual search strategy selection

People tend to employ suboptimal attention control strategies during visual search. Here we question why people are suboptimal, specifically investigating how knowledge of the optimal strategies and the time available to apply such strategies affect strategy use. We used the Adaptive Choice Visual Search (ACVS), a task designed to assess attentional control optimality. We used explicit strategy instructions to manipulate explicit strategy knowledge, and we used display previews to manipulate time to apply the strategies. In the first two experiments, the strategy instructions increased optimality. However, the preview manipulation did not significantly boost optimality for participants who did not receive strategy instruction. Finally, in Experiments 3A and 3B, we jointly manipulated preview and instruction with a larger sample size. Preview and instruction both produced significant main effects; furthermore, they interacted significantly, such that the beneficial effect of instructions emerged with greater preview time. Taken together, these results have important implications for understanding the strategic use of attentional control. Individuals with explicit knowledge of the optimal strategy are more likely to exploit relevant information in their visual environment, but only to the extent that they have the time to do so.

Preparation and persistence of deploying attention to locations or stimulus structures: Evidence from intermixed probe trials

Attention can be directed to the global or local level of a visual stimulus (i.e., Navon figure). Previous studies yielded reliable trial-to-trial level switch costs (i.e., worse performance when responding to the other level than on a previous trial), even though level cueing effects indicated anticipatory deployment of attention to the upcoming target level. To investigate the interplay of attentional preparation and persistence, we applied a probe trial method assumed to ensure a high degree of preparation for the upcoming target level and minimizing stimulus-specific proactive interference. Mirroring previous findings obtained in the domain of spatial attention, we found evidence for anticipatory attentional focusing on global/local target levels but not for persistence of the attentional set adopted on the previous trial. In a second experiment, we prevented preparation for upcoming attentional demands (in both global-local and spatial attention tasks). This resulted in the modulation of performance (in critical probe trials) by the attentional demands of the predecessor trial. Together, our findings demonstrate sensitivity of the probe trial method for attentional persistence and raise the possibility that such persistence can be completely eliminated by sufficiently strong preparation for the attentional demands of the following trial.

Impact of Acute Dopamine Replacement on Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease

BACKGROUND

PD causes striatal dopaminergic denervation in a posterior/dorsal to anterior/ventral gradient, leaving motor and associative cortico-striato-pallido-thalamic loops differentially susceptible to hyperdopaminergic effects with treatment. As the choice and titration of symptomatic PD medications are guided primarily by motor symptoms, it is important to understand their cognitive implications.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effects of acute dopaminergic medication administration on executive function in Parkinson's disease (PD).

METHODS

Participants with idiopathic PD were administered the oral Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT; n = 181) and the Stroop test (n = 172) in the off-medication and "best on" medication states. ANCOVA was used to test for differences between off-medication and on-medication scores corrected for age and years of education.

RESULTS

After administration of symptomatic medications, scores worsened on the SDMT (F = 11.70, P < 0.001, d = -0.13), improved on the Stroop color (F = 26.89, P < 0.001, d = 0.184), word (F = 6.25, P = 0.013, d = 0.09), and color-word (F = 13.22, P < 0.001, d = 0.16) test components, and the Stroop difference and ratio-based interference scores did not significantly change. Longer disease duration correlated with lower scores on the SDMT, Stroop color, word, and color-word scores; however, longer disease duration and higher levodopa-equivalents correlated with higher Stroop difference-based interference scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Symptomatic medication differentially affects performance on two cognitive tests in PD. After acute treatment, core Stroop measures improved, Stroop interference was unchanged, and SDMT performance worsened, likely reflecting complex changes in processing speed and executive function related to acute treatment. When considering motor symptom therapies in PD, an individual's cognitive demands and expectations, especially regarding executive function, should be considered.

Neural activity ramps in frontal cortex signal extended motivation during learning

Learning requires the ability to link actions to outcomes. How motivation facilitates learning is not well understood. We designed a behavioral task in which mice self-initiate trials to learn cue-reward contingencies and found that the anterior cingulate region of the prefrontal cortex (ACC) contains motivation-related signals to maximize rewards. In particular, we found that ACC neural activity was consistently tied to trial initiations where mice seek to leave unrewarded cues to reach reward-associated cues. Notably, this neural signal persisted over consecutive unrewarded cues until reward associated cues were reached, and was required for learning. To determine how ACC inherits this motivational signal we performed projection specific photometry recordings from several inputs to ACC during learning. In doing so, we identified a ramp in bulk neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-to-ACC projections as mice received unrewarded cues, which continued ramping across consecutive unrewarded cues, and finally peaked upon reaching a reward associated cue, thus maintaining an extended motivational state. Cellular resolution imaging of OFC confirmed these neural correlates of motivation, and further delineated separate ensembles of neurons that sequentially tiled the ramp. Together, these results identify a mechanism by which OFC maps out task structure to convey an extended motivational state to ACC to facilitate goal-directed learning.

Out-of-phase transcranial alternating current stimulation modulates the neurodynamics of inhibitory control

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is an efficient neuromodulation technique that enhances cognitive function in a non-invasive manner. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated whether tACS with different phase lags (0° and 180°) between the dorsal anterior cingulate and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortices modulated inhibitory control performance during the Stroop task. We found out-of-phase tACS mediated improvements in task performance, which was neurodynamically reflected as putamen, dorsolateral prefrontal, and primary motor cortical activation as well as prefrontal-based top-down functional connectivity. Our observations uncover the neurophysiological bases of tACS-phase-dependent neuromodulation and provide a feasible non-invasive approach to effectively modulate inhibitory control.

Response times are affected by mispredictions in a stochastic game

Acting as a goalkeeper in a video-game, a participant is asked to predict the successive choices of the penalty taker. The sequence of choices of the penalty taker is generated by a stochastic chain with memory of variable length. It has been conjectured that the probability distribution of the response times is a function of the specific sequence of past choices governing the algorithm used by the penalty taker to make his choice at each step. We found empirical evidence that besides this dependence, the distribution of the response times depends also on the success or failure of the previous prediction made by the participant. Moreover, we found statistical evidence that this dependence propagates up to two steps forward after the prediction failure.

The persistence of memory: prior memory responses modulate behavior and brain state engagement

Memory brain states may influence how we experience an event. Memory encoding and retrieval constitute neurally dissociable brain states that individuals can selectively engage based on top-down goals. To the extent that memory states linger in time - as suggested by prior behavioral work - memory states may influence not only the current experience, but also subsequent stimuli and judgments. Thus lingering memory states may have broad influences on cognition, yet this account has not been directly tested utilizing neural measures of memory states. Here we address this gap by testing the hypothesis that memory brain states are modulated by memory judgments, and that these brain states persist for several hundred milliseconds. We recorded scalp electroencephalography (EEG) while participants completed a recognition memory task. We used an independently validated multivariate mnemonic state classifier to assess memory state engagement. We replicate prior behavioral findings; however, our neural findings run counter to the predictions made on the basis of the behavioral data. Surprisingly, we find that prior responses modulate current memory state engagement on the basis of response congruency. That is, we find strong engagement of the retrieval state on incongruent trials - when a target is preceded by a correct rejection of a lure and when a lure is preceded by successful recognition of a target. These findings indicate that cortical brain states are influenced by prior judgments and suggest that a non-mnemonic, internal attention state may be recruited to in the face of changing demands in a dynamic environment.

The Neural Correlates of Food Preference among Music Kinds

The calorie and taste choices of food have been shown to be related to the external environment, including music. Previous studies have mostly focused on manipulating basic auditory parameters, with few scholars exploring the impact of complex musical parameters on food selection. This study explored the effects of different kinds of music (classical, rock, jazz, and hip-hop) on food liking based on the calories (high and low) and taste (sweet and salty) using event-related potentials (ERPs). Twenty-four participants (8 males, 16 females) were recruited from Southwest University, China to participate in the food liking task using a Likert seven-point rating and simultaneously recording EEG signals (N2, P2, N3, and LPC). This study used repeated-measures analyses of covariances and found that the score of the high-calorie foods was greater than that of the low-calorie foods. Additionally, results revealed that the score in classical music was greatest for sweet foods, while there was no difference among music kinds in the salty foods. The ERP results showed that P2 amplitudes were greater for sweet foods than those for the salty foods. N2 amplitudes for the salty foods were greater than those for the sweet foods during rock music; in addition, N2 amplitudes during hip-hop music were greatest for sweet foods. However, N2 amplitudes during rock music were the greatest for salty foods. The results also revealed that N2 amplitudes during hip-hop music were greater than those during jazz music. This study provides unique operational insights for businesses.

Mutual inclusivity improves decision-making by smoothing out choice's competitive edge

Decisions form a central bottleneck to most tasks, one that people often experience as costly. Past work proposes mitigating those costs by lowering one's threshold for deciding. Here, we test an alternative solution, one that targets the basis for most choice costs: that choosing one option sacrifices others (mutual exclusivity). Across 5 studies (N = 462), we test whether this tension can be relieved by framing choices as inclusive (allowing selection of more than one option, as in buffets). We find that inclusivity makes choices more efficient, by selectively reducing competition between potential responses as participants accumulate information for each of their options. Inclusivity also made participants feel less conflicted, especially when they couldn't decide which good option to keep or which bad option to get rid of. These inclusivity benefits were also distinguishable from the effects of manipulating decision threshold (increased urgency), which improved choices but not experiences thereof.

Understanding the human conflict processing network: A review of the literature on direct neural recordings during performance of a modified stroop task

The Stroop Task is a well-known neuropsychological task developed to investigate conflict processing in the human brain. Our group has utilized direct intracranial neural recordings in various brain regions during performance of a modified color-word Stroop Task to gain a mechanistic understanding of non-emotional human conflict processing. The purpose of this review article is to: 1) synthesize our own studies into a model of human conflict processing, 2) review the current literature on the Stroop Task and other conflict tasks to put our research in context, and 3) describe how these studies define a network in conflict processing. The figures presented are reprinted from our prior publications and key publications referenced in the manuscript. We summarize all studies to date that employ invasive intracranial recordings in humans during performance of conflict-inducing tasks. For our own studies, we analyzed local field potentials (LFPs) from patients with implanted stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG) electrodes, and we observed intracortical oscillation patterns as well as intercortical temporal relationships in the hippocampus, amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during the cue-processing phase of a modified Stroop Task. Our findings suggest that non-emotional human conflict processing involves modulation across multiple frequency bands within and between brain structures.

The emergence of identity, agency and consciousness from the temporal dynamics of neural elaboration

Identity-differentiating self from external reality-and agency-being the author of one's acts-are generally considered intrinsic properties of awareness and looked at as mental constructs generated by consciousness. Here a different view is proposed. All physiological systems display complex time-dependent regulations to adapt or anticipate external changes. To interact with rapid changes, an animal needs a nervous system capable of modelling and predicting (not simply representing) it. Different algorithms must be employed to predict the momentary location of an object based on sensory information (received with a delay), or to design in advance and direct the trajectory of movement. Thus, the temporal dynamics of external events and action must be handled in differential ways, thereby generating the distinction between self and non-self ("identity") as an intrinsic computational construct in neuronal elaboration. Handling time is not what neurons are designed for. Neuronal circuits are based on parallel processing: each bit of information diverges on many neurons, each of which combines it with many other data. Spike firing reports the likelihood that the specific pattern the neuron is designed to respond to is present in the incoming data. This organization seems designed to process synchronous datasets. However, since neural networks can introduce delays in processing, time sequences can be transformed into simultaneous patterns and analysed as such. This way predictive algorithms can be implemented, and continually improved through neuronal plasticity. To successfully interact with the external reality, the nervous system must model and predict, but also differentially handle perceptual functions or motor activity, by putting in register information that becomes available at different time moments. Also, to learn through positive/negative reinforcement, modelling must establish a causal relation between motor control and its consequences: the contrast between phase lag in perception and phase lead (and control) in motor programming produces the emergence of identity (discerning self from surrounding) and agency (control on actions) as necessary computational constructs to model reality. This does not require any form of awareness. In a brain, capable of producing awareness, these constructs may evolve from mere computational requirements into mental (conscious) constructs.

Why is there an error negativity on correct trials? A reappraisal

In healthy subjects, the Error Negativity (Ne) was initially reported on errors and on partial errors, only. Later on, application of the Laplacian transformation to EEG data unmasked a Ne-like wave (Nc) that shares a main generator with the Ne, suggesting that the Nc is just a small Ne. However, the reason why a small Ne would persist on correct responses remains unclear. Now, sometimes, subthreshold EMG activations in the muscles corresponding to correct responses (not strong enough to reach the response threshold) can precede full-blown correct responses. These "partially correct" activities seem to correspond to (force) execution errors, as they evoke a sizeable Ne. Within the frames of the Reward Value and Prediction Model or of the Predicted Response-Outcome model we propose that the action monitoring system evokes a Ne/Nc on correct responses because, even when a correct choice has been made, the accuracy of response (force) execution cannot be fully predicted. If this interpretation is correct, it can be assumed that, once these execution errors have been corrected, the correctness of the (full-blown) correcting response is highly predictable. Consequently, they should evoke a smaller Nc/Ne than "pure" correct responses. We show, that for the response thresholds set in the present experiment, the correcting response of the trials containing a partially correct activation evoke no identifiable Nc at all. Therefore it seems that there usually is an Error Negativity on correct trials because the correctness of response (force) execution cannot be fully predicted.

The Development of Cognitive Control in Preschoolers and Kindergarteners: The Case of Post-Error Slowing and Delayed Disinhibition

This study aimed to investigate two specific behavioral manifestations of the executive attention systems in preschoolers and kindergarteners, beyond the unique contribution of intelligence. We tested post-error slowing [RT¯Post-error trial-RT¯Not post-error trial] as a marker of reactive control and delayed disinhibition as a novel marker for proactive control. One hundred and eighty preschool- and kindergarten-aged children, as well as their mothers (final sample: 155 children and 174 mothers), performed an adapted task based on Go/NoGo and Stroop-like paradigms-the emotional day-night task. The children showed reliable post-error slowing and delayed disinhibition (mean size effects of 238.18 ms and 58.31 ms, respectively), while the adult size effects were 40-50% smaller. The post-error slowing effect was present for both sexes in all the tested ages, while the delayed disinhibition effect was present only for girls. Both effects showed large individual differences that became smaller in adulthood. Our findings emphasize the earlier maturation of reactive control compared to proactive control, and the earlier maturation of proactive cognitive control in girls compared to boys.

A distributed theta network of error generation and processing in aging

Based on previous concepts that a distributed theta network with a central "hub" in the medial frontal cortex is critically involved in movement regulation, monitoring, and control, the present study explored the involvement of this network in error processing with advancing age in humans. For that aim, the oscillatory neurodynamics of motor theta oscillations was analyzed at multiple cortical regions during correct and error responses in a sample of older adults. Response-related potentials (RRPs) of correct and incorrect reactions were recorded in a four-choice reaction task. RRPs were decomposed in the time-frequency domain to extract oscillatory theta activity. Motor theta oscillations at extended motor regions were analyzed with respect to power, temporal synchronization, and functional connectivity. Major results demonstrated that errors had pronounced effects on motor theta oscillations at cortical regions beyond the medial frontal cortex by being associated with (1) theta power increase in the hemisphere contra-lateral to the movement, (2) suppressed spatial and temporal synchronization at pre-motor areas contra-lateral to the responding hand, (2) inhibited connections between the medial frontal cortex and sensorimotor areas, and (3) suppressed connectivity and temporal phase-synchronization of motor theta networks in the posterior left hemisphere, irrespective of the hand, left, or right, with which the error was made. The distributed effects of errors on motor theta oscillations demonstrate that theta networks support performance monitoring. The reorganization of these networks with aging implies that in older individuals, performance monitoring is associated with a disengagement of the medial frontal region and difficulties in controlling the focus of motor attention and response selection.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-023-10018-4.

Being underweight, academic performance and cognitive control in undergraduate women

The prevalence of underweight among young women is a serious international health issue. However, the evidence on how being underweight negatively affects brain health and cognition is still unclear. This study investigated the association between underweight status, academic performance, and neurocognitive control in young Japanese women using a cross-sectional design. We analyzed the academic performance of female undergraduates, comparing underweight and healthy-weight groups (n = 43; age 18-23 years, M = 21.1, SD = 1.3) based on their grade point average (GPA). We also analyzed their error-related negativity (ERN), an electrophysiological measure that potentially reflects academic performance, during an arrowhead version of the flanker task to assess cognitive control of action monitoring. Participants with a low body mass index were found to have lower GPAs. Furthermore, the underweight students exhibited smaller ERN amplitudes, which indicates decreased cognitive control in action monitoring. These findings suggest that a healthy weight status is essential for effective cognitive functioning and academic success in young adult women, among whom being underweight is a serious health problem.

Performance monitoring and error detection: The role of mid frontal theta and error-related negativity (ERN) among Indian adolescents from different socioeconomic background

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and executive functioning, focusing specifically on performance monitoring, error detection, and their association with mid-frontal theta and error-related negativity (ERN). Employing the widely used flanker task, the research involved two phases with participants aged 10-16 years (15 individuals in the pilot phase and 35 in the second phase). Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from distinct brain regions were analyzed during various conditions. The study revealed a notable increase in both absolute and relative theta power at Fcz during the flanker task, with a stronger effect observed during incorrect trials. Furthermore, it underscored the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on mid-frontal theta, highlighting interactions between SES, gender, and experimental conditions impacting both absolute and relative theta. Intriguingly, the research disclosed a positive correlation between parental occupation and error-related negativity (ERN), as well as between age and ERN. These findings underscore the significance of SES, gender, and age in shaping the neural mechanisms associated with performance monitoring and executive functions. The study contributes valuable insights into the intricate interplay between socio-demographic factors and cognitive processes, shedding light on their impact on goal-directed behaviors and brain activity.

A Ketone Monoester with Carbohydrate Improves Cognitive Measures Postexercise, but Not Performance in Trained Females

PURPOSE

The acute ingestion of a ketone monoester with the coingestion of a carbohydrate (KME + CHO) compared with carbohydrate (CHO) was investigated on cycling performance and cognitive performance in trained females.

METHODS

Using a two condition, placebo-controlled, double-blinded and crossover design, 12 trained females (mean ± SD: age, 23 ± 3 yr; height, 1.64 ± 0.08 m; mass, 65.2 ± 12.7 kg) completed a baseline assessment of cognitive performance (psychomotor vigilance testing (PVT), task switching, and incongruent flanker), followed by 6 × 5-min intervals at 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, and 65% of their maximal power output (W max ) and then a 10-km time trial, concluding with the same assessments of cognitive performance. Participants consumed either 375 mg·kg -1 body mass of KME with a 6% CHO solution (1 g·min -1 of exercise) or CHO alone, across three boluses (50:25:25).

RESULTS

Blood β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations averaged 1.80 ± 0.07 and 0.13 ± 0.01 mM during exercise in KME + CHO and CHO, respectively. Blood glucose decreased after drink 1 of KME + CHO (~15%; P = 0.01) but not CHO, and lactate concentrations were lower in KME + CHO at 50%, 55%, 60%, and 65% W max (all P < 0.05) compared with CHO. Despite these changes, no differences were found between conditions for time trial finishing times (KME + CHO, 29.7 ± 5.7 min; CHO, 29.6 ± 5.7 min; P = 0.92). However, only KME + CHO resulted in increases in psychomotor vigilance testing speed (~4%; P = 0.01) and faster reaction times (~14%; P < 0.01), speed (~15%; P < 0.01), and correct responses (~13%; P = 0.03) in the incongruent flanker during posttesting compared with CHO.

CONCLUSIONS

The acute ingestion of a KME + CHO elevated blood β-hydroxybutyrate and lowered glucose and lactate across multiple time points during exercise compared with CHO. Although these changes did not affect physical performance, several markers of cognitive performance were improved by the addition of a KME in trained females.

Cognitive control controls the effect of irrelevant stimulus-response learning

Research has established that two cognitive processes, cognitive control and irrelevant stimulus-response (S-R) learning, may underlie the proportion congruency effect, which refers to the findings that the size of interference effects (e.g., the Stroop, Simon, or Eriksen flanker effect) reduces with increasing the proportion of incongruent trials. Further studies have begun to investigate the interaction between these two cognitive processes, which not only provide more plausible accounts for empirical data, but also advance theories. The present study set out to investigate whether cognitive control can modulate the effect of irrelevant S-R learning. In two experiments, we combined a color-letter contingency task, in which we manipulated the contingencies (low vs. high) of irrelevant S-R associations, with a color-Chinese character Stroop task, in which we manipulated the ratio of neutral to incongruent trials (mostly neutral (MN) versus mostly incongruent (MI)). Experiment 1 showed a proportion neutral effect (the Stroop effect was smaller in the MI than in the MN condition), suggesting changes in control demand. Critically, the contingency effect (faster responses in the high- than in the low-contingency condition) reduced in the MI than in the MN condition. Experiment 2 (preregistered) increased the number of Chinese characters to exclude a familiarity account for the proportion neutral effect, which replicated the findings of Experiment 1. These results suggest that cognitive control induced in the Stroop task transferred to the contingency task and modulated the contingency effect. Thus, this study provides clear evidence that cognitive control can modulate the effect of irrelevant S-R learning.

The neural dynamics of conflict adaptation induced by conflict observation: Evidence from univariate and multivariate analysis

Conflict adaptation can be expressed as greater performance (shorter response time and lower error rate) after incongruent trials when compared to congruent trials. It has been observed in designs that minimize confounding factors, i.e., feature integration, contingency learning, and temporal learning. Our current study aimed to further elucidate the temporal evolution mechanisms of conflict adaptation. To address this issue, the current study employed a combination of behavioral, univariate, and multivariate analysis (MVPA) methods in a modified color-word Stroop task, where half of the trials required button presses (DO trials), and the other half only required observation (LOOK trials). Both behavioral and the ERP results (N450 and SP) in the LOOK-DO transition trials revealed significant conflict adaptation without feature integration, contingency learning, and temporal learning, providing support for the conflict monitoring theory. Furthermore, during the LOOK trials, significant Stroop effect in the N450 and SP components were observed, indicating that conflict monitoring occurred at the stimulus level and triggered reactive control adjustments. The MVPA results decoded the congruent-incongruent and incongruent-incongruent conditions during the conflict adjustment phase but not during the conflict monitoring phase, emphasizing the unique contribution of conflict adjustment to conflict adaptation. The current research findings provided more compelling supporting evidence for the conflict monitoring theory, while also indicating that future studies should employ the present design to elucidate the specific processes of conflict adaptation.

Self-referential information optimizes conflict adaptation

Self-referential information has been shown to optimize behavioral performance in various domains. The present study examined the role of self-referential information as a cue to enhance cognitive control and, more specifically, conflict adaptation. A revised color Stroop task was used with stimuli consisting of possessive pronouns and color words (e.g., "my green"). The results showed that self-referential information reduced conflict adaptation (the congruency sequence effect at trial level in Experiment 1, at block level in Experiment 2, and the list-wide proportion congruency effect at block level in Experiment 3). These findings suggest that self-referential information can act as a cue to optimize conflict adaptation. This study highlights the role of self-referential information in cognitive control adjustments.

Differences in Discounting Behavior and Brain Responses for Food and Money Reward

Most neuroeconomic research seeks to understand how value influences decision-making. The influence of reward type is less well understood. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate delay discounting of primary (i.e., food) and secondary rewards (i.e., money) in 28 healthy, normal-weighted participants (mean age = 26.77; 18 females). To decipher differences in discounting behavior between reward types, we compared how well-different option-based statistical models (exponential, hyperbolic discounting) and attribute-wise heuristic choice models (intertemporal choice heuristic, dual reasoning and implicit framework theory, trade-off model) captured the reward-specific discounting behavior. Contrary to our hypothesis of different strategies for different rewards, we observed comparable discounting behavior for money and food (i.e., exponential discounting). Higher k values for food discounting suggest that individuals decide more impulsive if confronted with food. The fMRI revealed that money discounting was associated with enhanced activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, involved in executive control; the right dorsal striatum, associated with reward processing; and the left hippocampus, involved in memory encoding/retrieval. Food discounting, instead, was associated with higher activity in the left temporoparietal junction suggesting social reinforcement of food decisions. Although our findings do not confirm our hypothesis of different discounting strategies for different reward types, they are in line with the notion that reward types have a significant influence on impulsivity with primary rewards leading to more impulsive choices.

Error-monitoring: A predictor of future reading skills? A 3-year longitudinal study in children

Investigation of the factors explaining individual differences in the acquisition of expert reading skills has become of particular interest these last decades. Non-verbal abilities, such as visual attention and executive functions play an important role in reading acquisition. Among those non-verbal factors, error-monitoring, which allows one to detect one's own errors and to avoid repeating them in the future, has been reported to be impaired in dyslexic readers. The present three-year longitudinal study aims at determining whether error-monitoring efficiency evaluated before and during reading instruction could improve the explanation of reading skills. To do so, 85 children will be followed from the last year of kindergarten to the second grade. The classic predictors of reading will be assessed at each grade level. Error-monitoring indices in domain-general and reading-related contexts will be derived from EMG data recorded during a Simon task in kindergarten and during both a Simon and a lexical decision tasks in the first and second grades. Findings concerning the role of error-monitoring on reading skills are expected to have an important impact on reading instruction to prevent reading difficulties in at-risk children and improve remediation to help children with reading difficulties.

Acute stress influences the emotional foundations of executive control: Distinct effects on control-related affective and cognitive processes

Acute stress is known to influence performance on various task outcomes indicative of executive functioning (i.e., the top-down, goal-directed control of cognition and behavior). The most common interpretation of these effects is that stress influences control processes themselves. Another possibility, though, is that stress does not impair control per se, but instead alters the affective dynamics underlying the recruitment of control (e.g., reducing the extent to which making an error is aversive), resulting in less recruitment of control and thus poor performance. To date, however, no work has examined whether stress effects on executive function outcomes are driven by affective dynamics related to the recruitment of control. In the current study, we found that acute stress influenced-and cortisol responses related to-both executive control-related performance outcomes (e.g., post-error slowing) and control-related affective dynamics (e.g., negative affect following recruitment of control) in a modified Stroop task, but that these effects appeared to be independent of each other: The effects of stress on, and associations of cortisol with, control-related cognitive outcomes were not statistically mediated by task- or control-related affective dynamics. These results thus suggest that although stress influences affective dynamics underlying executive function, the effects of stress on executive function outcomes appear to be at least partially dependent on nonaffective processes, such as control processes themselves.

Agranular frontal cortical microcircuit underlying cognitive control in macaques

The error-related negativity and an N2-component recorded over medial frontal cortex index core functions of cognitive control. While they are known to originate from agranular frontal areas, the underlying microcircuit mechanisms remain elusive. Most insights about microcircuit function have been derived from variations of the so-called canonical microcircuit model. These microcircuit architectures are based extensively on studies from granular sensory cortical areas in monkeys, cats, and rodents. However, evidence has shown striking cytoarchitectonic differences across species and differences in the functional relationships across cortical layers in agranular compared to granular sensory areas. In this minireview, we outline a tentative microcircuit model underlying cognitive control in the agranular frontal cortex of primates. The model incorporates the main GABAergic interneuron subclasses with specific laminar arrangements and target regions on pyramidal cells. We emphasize the role of layer 5 pyramidal cells in error and conflict detection. We offer several specific questions necessary for creating a specific intrinsic microcircuit model of the agranular frontal cortex.

Comprehensive elucidation of resting-state functional connectivity in anorexia nervosa by a multicenter cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Previous research on the changes in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in anorexia nervosa (AN) has been limited by an insufficient sample size, which reduced the reliability of the results and made it difficult to set the whole brain as regions of interest (ROIs).

METHODS

We analyzed functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 114 female AN patients and 135 healthy controls (HC) and obtained self-reported psychological scales, including eating disorder examination questionnaire 6.0. One hundred sixty-four cortical, subcortical, cerebellar, and network parcellation regions were considered as ROIs. We calculated the ROI-to-ROI rsFCs and performed group comparisons.

RESULTS

Compared to HC, AN patients showed 12 stronger rsFCs mainly in regions containing dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and 33 weaker rsFCs primarily in regions containing cerebellum, within temporal lobe, between posterior fusiform cortex and lateral part of visual network, and between anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and thalamus (p < 0.01, false discovery rate [FDR] correction). Comparisons between AN subtypes showed that there were stronger rsFCs between right lingual gyrus and right supracalcarine cortex and between left temporal occipital fusiform cortex and medial part of visual network in the restricting type compared to the binge/purging type (p < 0.01, FDR correction).

CONCLUSION

Stronger rsFCs in regions containing mainly DLPFC, and weaker rsFCs in regions containing primarily cerebellum, within temporal lobe, between posterior fusiform cortex and lateral part of visual network, and between ACC and thalamus, may represent categorical diagnostic markers discriminating AN patients from HC.

No pupillometric evidence for effortful proactive control in the proportion-congruent Stroop paradigm

Cognitive control is the ability to allocate attention away from stimuli that are irrelevant to achieving a goal, towards stimuli that are. When conflict is anticipated, attention is biased in a global, top-down manner called proactive control and this effortful type of cognitive control is engaged before stimulus onset. The list-wise congruency proportion (LWPC) effect, where the Stroop congruency effect is reduced when there are more incongruent than congruent trials compared to vice versa, has been viewed as one of the prime signatures of this type of cognitive control. However, there has been recent debate about the extent to which this effect should be attributed to proactive control instead of alternative explanations such as simpler associative learning or reactive control. Thus, by using pupillometry (i.e., an indicator of cognitive effort), the present study investigated the extent to which LWPC effects result from effortful proactive control. Experiment 1 employed a classic proportion congruency manipulation, while Experiment 2 replaced congruent trials with neutral trials to control for potential effects of associative learning. While in line with past findings, proportion congruency effects were obtained in response times of both experiments and pupillometry showed both proportion congruency and Stroop effects after stimulus onset, no differences in pupil sizes were found during the preparatory phase. Therefore, these results do not support the idea that the observed LWPC effects are due to participants engaging in effortful proactive control.

Anxiety Symptoms in Young Children Are Associated With a Maladaptive Neurobehavioral Profile of Error Responding

BACKGROUND

Childhood anxiety symptoms have been linked to alterations in cognitive control and error processing, but the diverse findings on neural markers of anxiety in young children, which vary by severity and developmental stage, suggest the need for a wider perspective. Integrating new neural markers with established ones, such as the error-related negativity, the error positivity, and frontal theta, could clarify this association. Error-related alpha suppression (ERAS) is a recently proposed index of post-error attentional engagement that has not yet been explored in children with anxiety.

METHODS

To identify neurobehavioral profiles of anxiety in young children by integrating ERAS with the error-related negativity, error positivity, frontal theta, and post-error performance indicators, we employed K-means clustering as an unsupervised multimetric approach. For this, we first aimed to confirm the presence and scalp distribution of ERAS in young children. We performed event-related potentials and spectral analysis of electroencephalogram data collected during a Go/NoGo task (Zoo Task) completed by 181 children (ages 4-7 years; 103 female) who were sampled from across the clinical-to-nonclinical range of anxiety severity using the Child Behavior Checklist.

RESULTS

Results confirmed ERAS, showing lower post-error alpha power, maximal suppression at occipital sites, and less ERAS in younger children. K-means clustering revealed that high anxiety and younger age were associated with reduction in ERAS and frontal theta, less negative error-related negativity, enlarged error positivity, more post-error slowing, and reduced post-error accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate a link between ERAS, maladaptive neural mechanisms of attention elicited by errors, and anxiety in young children, suggesting that anxiety may arise from or interfere with attention and error processing.

Motor oscillations reveal new correlates of error processing in the human brain

It has been demonstrated that during motor responses, the activation of the motor cortical regions emerges in close association with the activation of the medial frontal cortex implicated with performance monitoring and cognitive control. The present study explored the oscillatory neurodynamics of response-related potentials during correct and error responses to test the hypothesis that such continuous communication would modify the characteristics of motor potentials during performance errors. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded at 64 electrodes in a four-choice reaction task and response-related potentials (RRPs) of correct and error responses were analysed. Oscillatory RRP components at extended motor areas were analysed in the theta (3.5-7 Hz) and delta (1-3 Hz) frequency bands with respect to power, temporal synchronization (phase-locking factor, PLF), and spatial synchronization (phase-locking value, PLV). Major results demonstrated that motor oscillations differed between correct and error responses. Error-related changes (1) were frequency-specific, engaging delta and theta frequency bands, (2) emerged already before response production, and (3) had specific regional topographies at posterior sensorimotor and anterior (premotor and medial frontal) areas. Specifically, the connectedness of motor and sensorimotor areas contra-lateral to the response supported by delta networks was substantially reduced during errors. Also, there was an error-related suppression of the phase stability of delta and theta oscillations at these areas. This synchronization reduction was accompanied by increased temporal synchronization of motor theta oscillations at bi-lateral premotor regions and by two distinctive error-related effects at medial frontal regions: (1) a focused fronto-central enhancement of theta power and (2) a separable enhancement of the temporal synchronization of delta oscillations with a localized medial frontal focus. Together, these observations indicate that the electrophysiological signatures of performance errors are not limited to the medial frontal signals, but they also involve the dynamics of oscillatory motor networks at extended cortical regions generating the movement. Also, they provide a more detailed picture of the medial frontal processes activated in relation to error processing.

Post-loss speeding or post-win slowing? An empirical note on the interpretation of decision-making time as a function of previous outcome

Differences in response time following previous losses relative to previous wins are robust observations in behavioural science, often attributed to an increased (or decreased) degree of cognitive control exerted after negative feedback, hence, post-loss slowing (or post-loss speeding). This presumes that the locus of this effect resides in the specific modulation of decision time following negative outcomes. Across two experiments, I demonstrate how the use of absolute rather than relative processing speeds, and the sensitivity of processing speeds in response to specific experimental manipulations (Experiment 1: win rate, Experiment 2: feedback), provide clarity as to the relative weighting of post-win and post-loss states in determining these behavioural effects. Both experiments show that the speeding or slowing of decision-time is largely due to the flexibility generated by post-win cognitive states. Given that post-loss speeding may actually represent post-win slowing, conclusions regarding the modulation of decision-making time as a function of previous outcomes need to be more carefully considered.

Impact of process interference on memory encoding and retrieval processes in dual-task situations

Dual-tasks at the memory encoding stage have been shown to decrease recall performance and impair concurrent task performance. In contrast, studies on the effect of dual-tasks at the memory retrieval stage observed mixed results. Which cognitive mechanisms are underlying this dual-task interference is still an unresolved question. In the present study, we investigated the influence of a concurrent reaction-time task on the performance in a long-term memory task in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants performed an auditory-verbal free recall memory task and a visual-manual spatial Stroop task in a single or dual-task condition, either at the encoding or retrieval stage of the memory task. In Experiment 2, we examined the influence of processing conflicts in a concurrent RT task on memory encoding. Both experiments showed detrimental effects on recall accuracy and concurrent RT task performance in dual-task conditions at the encoding stage. Dual-task conditions at the retrieval stage led to a slowdown in recall latency and impaired concurrent RT task performance, but recall accuracy was maintained. In addition, we observed larger Stroop congruency effects in the dual-task conditions, indicating an increased processing conflict. However, in Experiment 2, we analyzed the effect of the processing conflict in a time-locked manner and could not find a significant influence on success of memory encoding. These findings suggest that processes in both tasks share the same limited capacity and are slowed down due to parallel processing, but we could not find evidence that this is further influenced by task-specific processing conflicts.