Neural predictors of moment-to-moment fluctuations in cognitive flexibility.

Full Abstract

Cognitive flexibility is a crucial human ability allowing efficient adaptation to changing task challenges. Although a person's degree of flexibility can vary from moment to moment, the conditions regulating such fluctuations are not well understood. Using a task-switching procedure with fMRI, we found several brain regions in which neural activity preceding each trial predicted subsequent cognitive flexibility. Specifically, as pretrial activity increased, performance improved on trials when the task switched but did not improve when the task repeated. Regions from which flexibility could be predicted reliably included the basal ganglia, anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex. Although further analysis revealed similarities across the regions in how flexibility was predicted, results supported the existence of multiple independent sources of prediction. These results reveal distinct neural mechanisms underlying fluctuations in cognitive flexibility.

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Author information

Author/s: Leber, Andrew B (AB); Turk-Browne, Nicholas B (NB); Chun, Marvin M (MM);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. andrew.leber@unh.edu

Grants: EY000785 (Agency:United States NEI) ; EY014193 (Agency:United States NEI) ; MH070115 (Agency:United States NIMH)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 105 (issue 36) : pp 13592-7

Dates: Created 2008/09/10; Completed 2008/09/30;

PMID: 18757744, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Brain Mapping
Cognition - physiology
Female

Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neurons - physiology
Oxygen - blood

Associated Chemicals: Oxygen (7782-44-7)

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