Who Comes First? The Role of the Prefrontal and Parietal Cortex in Cognitive Control

Braß, Marcel; Ullsperger, Markus; Knoesche, Thomas R.; Cramon, D. Yves von; Phillips, Natalie A.

doi:10.1162/0898929054985400

Cited by 213 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…It is possible that the left DLPFC is also necessary for context updating but follows a different time course and was thus unaffected by a disruption within the tested time window (15,44). However, the lateralization we observed in the TMS study was predicted by the source localization of an event-related potential (ERP) observed in our previous EEG study, which was associated with the updating of context in the same task (18).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%

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Role of prefrontal cortex and the midbrain dopamine system in working memory updating

D’Ardenne

Eshel

Luka

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

238

154

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Humans are adept at switching between goal-directed behaviors quickly and effectively. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to play a critical role by encoding, updating, and maintaining internal representations of task context in working memory. It has also been hypothesized that the encoding of context representations in PFC is regulated by phasic dopamine gating signals. Here we use multimodal methods to test these hypotheses. First we used functional MRI (fMRI) to identify regions of PFC associated with the representation of context in a working memory task. Next we used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), guided spatially by our fMRI findings and temporally by previous eventrelated EEG recordings, to disrupt context encoding while participants performed the same working memory task. We found that TMS pulses to the right dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) immediately after context presentation, and well in advance of the response, adversely impacted context-dependent relative to context-independent responses. This finding causally implicates right DLPFC function in context encoding. Finally, using the same paradigm, we conducted high-resolution fMRI measurements in brainstem dopaminergic nuclei (ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra) and found phasic responses after presentation of context stimuli relative to other stimuli, consistent with the timing of a gating signal that regulates the encoding of representations in PFC. Furthermore, these responses were positively correlated with behavior, as well as with responses in the same region of right DLPFC targeted in the TMS experiment, lending support to the hypothesis that dopamine phasic signals regulate encoding, and thereby the updating, of context representations in PFC.cognitive control | context updating | task switching | cognitive neuroscience

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Several studies have documented the updating of context information in PFC (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). However, few studies have addressed the mechanisms by which this is accomplished.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of prefrontal cortex and the midbrain dopamine system in working memory updating

D’Ardenne

Eshel

Luka

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

238

154

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“…A role for posterior parietal cortex in processing response alternatives finds additional support in the broader cognitive control literature (37,38). A temporal shift from mid-VLPFC (conceptual) to inferior parietal (response) cortex may also parallel electroencephalogram evidence that TS is accompanied by an early frontal component (Ϸ300-500 ms) followed by a subsequent parietal component (Ϸ500-1,000 ms) (39)(40)(41).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Computational and neurobiological mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility

Badre

Wagner

2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

170

165

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The ability to switch between multiple tasks is central to flexible behavior. Although switching between tasks is readily accomplished, a well established consequence of task switching (TS) is behavioral slowing. The source of this switch cost and the contribution of cognitive control to its resolution remain highly controversial. Here, we tested whether proactive interference arising from memory places fundamental constraints on flexible performance, and whether prefrontal control processes contribute to overcoming these constraints. Event-related functional MRI indexed neural responses during TS. The contributions of cognitive control and interference were made theoretically explicit in a computational model of task performance. Model estimates of two levels of proactive interference, ''conceptual conflict'' and ''response conflict,'' produced distinct preparation-related profiles. Left ventrolateral prefrontal cortical activation paralleled model estimates of conceptual conflict, dissociating from that in left inferior parietal cortex, which paralleled model estimates of response conflict. These computationally informed neural measures specify retrieved conceptual representations as a source of conflict during TS and suggest that left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex resolves this conflict to facilitate flexible performance.cognitive control ͉ executive function ͉ memory ͉ prefrontal cortex ͉ task switching T he course of modern life is often interrupted by demands that do not await our disposition but must be addressed immediately. The ability to reconfigure our cognitive system to meet shifting task demands is evident and remarkable. A fundamental problem in the study of cognitive control is specification of the psychological and neural processes by which we achieve this flexibility and successfully switch tasks. Task switching (TS) is studied by comparing episodes in which subjects switch between two simple tasks to those in which they repeat the same task (1-5). In such comparisons, TS incurs slowing in response time (RT), termed a switch cost. As a window onto the mechanisms of flexible performance, considerable attention has focused on characterizing the source of the switch cost, although extant data have generated controversy rather than resolution (2, 4).Two classes of theory have framed the debate over TS costs. Reconfiguration theories posit time-consuming intentional control processes that initiate reconfiguration of the task set independent of the presentation of a target stimulus (6). From this perspective, the switch cost reflects the time consumed by these control processes, and their progress during a preparation interval yields preparation-related reductions in the switch cost. Alternatively, interference theories propose that switch costs are substantially or wholly attributable to conflict arising from memory due to the recent performance of a different task (2,7,8). From one such perspective, performance of a given task primes associations among available cues and task representations (2, ...

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“…However, fMRI and electroencephalographic studies in humans also implicate parietal cortex and presupplementary motor cortex (pre-SMA) (medial BA 6) in task switching (Dreher and Berman, 2002;Sohn et al, 2003;Rushworth et al, 2005), and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies in humans have shown that transient stimulation of parietal cortex or pre-SMA/medial wall leads to a slowing in the ability to switch from one task to another (Rushworth et al, 2001;Rushworth et al, 2002). A recent electroencephalographic study in humans shows that activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex precedes activity in parietal cortex during the updating of task rules (Brass et al, 2005b), supporting the hypothesis that lateral prefrontal cortex provides an abstract task representation that is then transmitted to, and/or further specified in, posterior cortices (Brass and von Cramon, 2004;Stoet and Snyder, 2004).…”

Section: Flexible Rule Usementioning

confidence: 99%