Flexible Coding of Task Rules in Frontoparietal Cortex: An Adaptive System for Flexible Cognitive Control

Abstract

How do our brains achieve the cognitive control that is required for flexible behavior? Several models of cognitive control propose a role for frontoparietal cortex in the structure and representation of task sets or rules. For behavior to be flexible, however, the system must also rapidly reorganize as mental focus changes. Here we used multivoxel pattern analysis of fMRI data to demonstrate adaptive reorganization of frontoparietal activity patterns following a change in the complexity of the task rules. When task rules were relatively simple, frontoparietal cortex did not hold detectable information about these rules. In contrast, when the rules were more complex, frontoparietal cortex showed clear and decodable rule discrimination. Our data demonstrate that frontoparietal activity adjusts to task complexity, with better discrimination of rules that are behaviorally more confusable. The change in coding was specific to the rule element of the task and was not mirrored in more specialized cortex (early visual cortex) where coding was independent of difficulty. In line with an adaptive view of frontoparietal function, the data suggest a system that rapidly reconfigures in accordance with the difficulty of a behavioral task. This system may provide a neural basis for the flexible control of human behavior.

Integration and segregation of large-scale brain networks during short-term task automatization

“…Working memory-related processes typically recruit the FPN2829, which was also observed in the control sample of the current study. In addition, direct evidence for an implication of the FPN in rule processing has been presented before, indicating that difficult S–R rules increase FPN activation, compared with easier rules30. Consistent with our results, an activation decrease in parts of the FPN combined with an activation increase in parts of the DMN has also been observed for longer practice sessions31.…”

Coding of Visual, Auditory, Rule, and Response Information in the Brain: 10 Years of Multivoxel Pattern Analysis

“…Interestingly, this network has recently been reported to show activation during task switching and multivoxel discrimination between the tasks being switched to (Crittenden, Mitchell, & Duncan, 2015). Additionally, we recently reported multivoxel discrimination between stimulus-response mapping rules in the precuneus, overlapping a major node of the DMN, during an active stimulus-response task ( Woolgar, Afshar, et al, 2015). Those data suggest a role for DMN that is qualitatively different from the internally driven activities such as mind wandering and introspection with which this network is more typically associated (e.g., Buckner, Andrews-Hanna, & Schacter, 2008).…”

“…Accordingly, in human functional imaging, the strength of multivoxel codes in the MD system has been found to adjust according to task requirements, with perceptual discrimination increasing under conditions of high perceptual demand Woolgar, Hampshire, Thompson, & Duncan, 2011), rule discrimination increasing when rules are more complex (Woolgar, Afshar, Williams, & Rich, 2015), and a greater representation of visual objects that are at the focus of attention . These regions are also thought to make qualitatively different distinctions between visual stimuli in different task contexts (Harel, Kravitz, & Baker, 2014).…”

A pathway linking reward circuitry, impulsive sensation-seeking and risky decision-making in young adults: identifying neural markers for new interventions

“…76, 77, 78 A different network of whole-brain neural regions was associated with ES, particularly visual cortical regions and premotor cortex, which subserve visual attentional processing 79, 80, 81 and motor preparation. 82 One interpretation of these findings is thus that the regions associated with ISSc may relate to stimulus-outcome evaluation, while those associated with ES may reflect visual attention and motor processes associated with examination of rewarding versus less rewarding cues, and automatic motor preparation.…”