scholarly journals Flexible information coding in frontoparietal cortex across the functional stages of cognitive processing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce M. G. Vromen ◽  
Stefanie I. Becker ◽  
Oliver Baumann ◽  
Jason B. Mattingley ◽  
Roger W. Remington
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Information Representation ◽  
Complex Tasks ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Frontoparietal Cortex ◽  
Response Execution

AbstractNeural activity in frontoparietal cortex shows overlap across cognitive domains and has been proposed to reflect flexible information processing according to current task demands (Dosenbach et al., 2007; Duncan, 2001). However, a strong assertion of flexibility requires investigating activity across stages of cognitive processing. The current study assessed neural activity in Multiple Demand (MD) regions across the stages of processing that form the core of long-standing cognitive models (Welford, 1952). Specifically, many complex tasks share a comparable structure of subsequent operations: target selection, stimulus-response (SR) mapping, and response execution. We independently manipulated the difficulty of target selection and SR mapping in identical stimulus displays and assessed changes in frontoparietal activity with increased demands in either stage. The results confirmed flexibility in MD regions, with enhanced information representation during difficult target selection as well as SR mapping. Additionally, anterior insula (AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) showed preferential representation of SR stage information, whereas the medial frontal gyrus (MFG) and inferior parietal sulcus (IPS) showed preferential representation of target selection-stage information. Together these results suggest that MD regions dynamically alter the information they represent with changing task demands. This is the first study to demonstrate that MD regions support flexible goal-directed cognition across multiple processing stages. At the same time we show a preference for the representation of information from a specific processing stage in a subset of MD regions.Significance StatementGoal-directed cognition in complex tasks is critical to key life outcomes including longevity and academic performance. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying cognition in complex tasks are not well understood. Distinct neural networks are critical to the navigation of specific cognitive domains (e.g. attention), but frontoparietal activity shows cross-domain and -task overlap and supports flexible representation of goal-critical information. This study links flexible frontoparietal processing to longstanding models of meta-cognition that propose a unifying structure of operations underlying most tasks: target selection, SR mapping, and response execution. Our results demonstrate that flexible information representation in frontoparietal cortex is not limited to the SR mapping stage, but applies across the functional stages of cognitive processing, thus maximizing neural efficiency and supporting flexible cognition.

scholarly journals Working memory as persistent neural activity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua J. Foster ◽  
Edward K. Vogel ◽  
Ed Awh
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Intelligent Behavior ◽  
Dynamic Collaboration ◽  
Definition Of

Working memory (WM) is an online memory system that allows us to hold information “in mind” in service of ongoing cognitive processing. Here, we emphasize that short-term retention of information typically involves an interplay between WM and long-term memory (LTM), especially when task demands or interruptions divert our focus from remembered items. We suggest that active neural representation may distinguish between “online” representations in WM and “offline” representations in LTM. This perspective is at odds with “activity-silent” models of WM, which hold that WM representations can be sustained without persistent neural activity. We suggest that activity-silent representations might be more productively conceptualized as offline representations in LTM because accessing these representations shows multiple signatures of retrieval from LTM. Moreover, active neural traces track WM load, predict individual differences in performance, and respect sharp item limits in WM storage. Thus, we argue that using neural activity as an operational definition of WM may provide strong traction for studying the dynamic collaboration between WM and LTM that is critical for intelligent behavior.

Faster Choice-Reaction Times to Positive than to Negative Facial Expressions

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jukka M. Leppänen ◽  
Mirja Tenhunen ◽  
Jari K. Hietanen
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Happy Face ◽  
Response Onset ◽  
Response Execution ◽  
Onset Response ◽  
Positive Stimuli ◽  
Choice Reaction Times

Abstract Several studies have shown faster choice-reaction times to positive than to negative facial expressions. The present study examined whether this effect is exclusively due to faster cognitive processing of positive stimuli (i.e., processes leading up to, and including, response selection), or whether it also involves faster motor execution of the selected response. In two experiments, response selection (onset of the lateralized readiness potential, LRP) and response execution (LRP onset-response onset) times for positive (happy) and negative (disgusted/angry) faces were examined. Shorter response selection times for positive than for negative faces were found in both experiments but there was no difference in response execution times. Together, these results suggest that the happy-face advantage occurs primarily at premotoric processing stages. Implications that the happy-face advantage may reflect an interaction between emotional and cognitive factors are discussed.

Developing a Cantonese Version of Birmingham Cognitive Screen for Stroke Survivors in Hong Kong

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Pak-Hin Kong ◽  
John Chan ◽  
Johnny King-L. Lau ◽  
Wai-Ling Bickerton ◽  
Brendan Weekes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Brain Injuries ◽  
Neuropsychological Battery ◽  
Good Test ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Cognitive Screen ◽  
Test Retest Reliability ◽  
State Examination

The Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS) is a neuropsychological battery designed to assess impairment to a variety of cognitive domains including language in patients with brain injuries. Twenty-two stroke participants and 16 gender-, age-, and education-matched controls were recruited in Hong Kong. The stroke participants were administered HK-BCoS as well as standardized batteries of cognitive and language functions validated for the Cantonese-speaking population in Hong Kong, including the Cantonese version of the Western Aphasia Battery, Cantonese Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Hong Kong–Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Results showed that HK-BCoS demonstrated good concurrent validity with all standardized batteries. HK-BCoS could discriminate between cognitive impairments in stroke patients and normal participants. Furthermore, HK-BCoS was found to have excellent intrarater and interrater reliabilities, good test–retest reliability, and fair split-half reliability as judged according to international criteria. In sum, HK-BCoS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing cognitive processing in Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong.

The Faces of Development: A Review of Early Face Processing over Childhood

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1426-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Taylor ◽  
M. Batty ◽  
R. J. Itier
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Inversion Effect ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Different Sources

The understanding of the adult proficiency in recognizing and extracting information from faces is still limited despite the number of studies over the last decade. Our knowledge on the development of these capacities is even more restricted, as only a handful of such studies exist. Here we present a combined reanalysis of four ERP studies in children from 4 to 15 years of age and adults (n = 424, across the studies), which investigated face processing in implicit and explicit tasks. We restricted these analyses to what was common across studies: early ERP components and upright face processing across all four studies and the inversion effect, investigated in three of the studies. These data demonstrated that processing faces implicates very rapid neural activity, even in young children— at the P1 component—with protracted age-related change in both P1 and N170, that were sensitive to the different task demands. Inversion produced latency and amplitude effects on the P1 from the youngest group, but on N170 only starting in mid childhood. These developmental data suggest that there are functionally different sources of the P1 and N170, related to the processing of different aspects of faces.

Abstract WMP117: Regional Homogeneity Changes In Patients With Transient Ischemic Attack: A Resting-state Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Stroke ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Guo ◽  
Ning Chen ◽  
Muke Zhou ◽  
Pian Wang ◽  
Li He
Keyword(s):  
Transient Ischemic Attack ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Regional Homogeneity ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Ischemic Attack

Background: Transient ischemic attack (TIA) can increase the risk of some neurologic dysfunctions, of which the mechanism remains unclear. Resting-state functional MRI (rfMRI) is suggested to be a valuable tool to study the relation between spontaneous brain activity and behavioral performance. However, little is known about whether the local synchronization of spontaneous neural activity is altered in TIA patients. The purpose of this study is to detect differences in regional spontaneous activities throughout the whole brain between TIAs and normal controls. Methods: Twenty one TIA patients suffered an ischemic event in the right hemisphere and 21 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. All subjects were investigated using cognitive tests and rfMRI. The regional homogeneity (ReHo) was calculate and compared between two groups. Then a correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between ReHo values of brain regions showing abnormal resting-state properties and clinical variables in TIA group. Results: Compared with controls, TIA patients exhibited decreased ReHo in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), right inferior prefrontal gyrus, right ventral anterior cingulate cortex and right dorsal posterior cingular cortex. Moreover, the mean ReHo in right DLPFC and right inferior prefrontal gyrus were significantly correlated with MoCA in TIA patients. Conclusions: Neural activity in the resting state is changed in patients with TIA. The positive correlation between regional homogeneity of rfMRI and cognition suggests that ReHo may be a promising tool to better our understanding of the neurobiological consequences of TIA.

scholarly journals Effects of long-term cocaine self-administration on brain resting-state functional connectivity in nonhuman primates

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Kohut ◽  
Dionyssios Mintzopoulos ◽  
Brian D. Kangas ◽  
Hannah Shields ◽  
Kelly Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Chronic Cocaine

AbstractLong-term cocaine use is associated with a variety of neural and behavioral deficits that impact daily function. This study was conducted to examine the effects of chronic cocaine self-administration on resting-state functional connectivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC) and putamen—two brain regions involved in cognitive function and motoric behavior—identified in a whole brain analysis. Six adult male squirrel monkeys self-administered cocaine (0.32 mg/kg/inj) over 140 sessions. Six additional monkeys that had not received any drug treatment for ~1.5 years served as drug-free controls. Resting-state fMRI imaging sessions at 9.4 Tesla were conducted under isoflurane anesthesia. Functional connectivity maps were derived using seed regions placed in the left dACC or putamen. Results show that cocaine maintained robust self-administration with an average total intake of 367 mg/kg (range: 299–424 mg/kg). In the cocaine group, functional connectivity between the dACC seed and regions primarily involved in motoric behavior was weaker, whereas connectivity between the dACC seed and areas implicated in reward and cognitive processing was stronger. In the putamen seed, weaker widespread connectivity was found between the putamen and other motor regions as well as with prefrontal areas that regulate higher-order executive function; stronger connectivity was found with reward-related regions. dACC connectivity was associated with total cocaine intake. These data indicate that functional connectivity between regions involved in motor, reward, and cognitive processing differed between subjects with recent histories of cocaine self-administration and controls; in dACC, connectivity appears to be related to cumulative cocaine dosage during chronic exposure.

scholarly journals The effects of Processing Instruction on the acquisition of English simple past tense: Age and cognitive task demands

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Benati ◽  
Tanja Angelovska
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Processing Instruction ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Post Test

AbstractThe present study investigates the effects of Processing Instruction on two different age groups and the role that cognitive task demands might play in the results generated by Processing Instruction. This study includes school-age children and adult native speakers of German learning English as a foreign language – a language combination not previously investigated within the Processing Instruction and individual differences research paradigm. The present study investigates directly whether two different age groups will benefit equally from Processing Instruction in altering their reliance on lexical temporal indicators and redirecting their attention to verb forms on Processing Instruction activities with different cognitive demands. The grammatical feature chosen for this study is the English past simple tense marking tested on both interpretation and production measures. The results from this study provide further evidence that the Processing Instruction is an effective instructional treatment in helping school-age children and adult L2 learners to make accurate form-meaning connections. The results from the first sentence-level interpretation task and the production task showed that Processing Instruction has positive and equal effects on both age groups (school-age learners and adults). The positive effects of instruction were maintained over the delayed post-test for both age groups who made similar gains on the immediate post-test. The results from the second (cognitively more complex) sentence-level interpretation task indicated that the adults made greater gains than school-age learners. However, both groups retained the positive effects of instruction over time. The difference in gains between the two age groups on the second sentence-level interpretation task can be explained in terms of cognitive processing load.

scholarly journals Skin and Macular Carotenoids and Their Implications for Cognitive Control and Achievement in Children (OR05-08-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlyn Edwards ◽  
Corinne Cannavale ◽  
Isabel Flemming ◽  
Samantha Iwinski ◽  
Anne Walk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Interference Control ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Math Scores ◽  
Heterochromatic Flicker Photometry ◽  
Flanker Interference

Abstract Objectives Carotenoids are plant pigments that accumulate across several tissues including the macula and skin. However, the relationship between carotenoid deposition in retina and skin is unknown in children. Understanding these interrelationships is important, given that evidence indicates that carotenoid status is a marker of cognitive health in childhood. Importantly, the selectivity of cognitive function to carotenoids in different tissues remains understudied. The present work investigated associations between retinal and skin carotenoids and their implications for children's cognitive function and achievement. Methods Children 7–12 years old (N = 50) participated in the study. Retinal carotenoid status, i.e., macular pigment optical density (MPOD), was assessed using heterochromatic flicker photometry. Skin carotenoids were assessed using reflection spectroscopy at the fingertip using the Veggiemeter. Academic achievement was assessed using the Woodcock Johnson IV test and a modified Eriksen flanker task to assess children's ability for selective attention or interference control. Results There was a significant positive correlation between skin and retinal carotenoid levels (rs = 0.29, P = 0.02). Skin carotenoids were positively related to reading (rs = 0.42, P = 0.001) and math scores (rs = 0.34, P = 0.009). However, skin carotenoids were not significantly related to flanker interference scores (p's > 0.05). On the other hand, MPOD was positively related to reading (rs = 0.25, P = 0.04) but not math (rs = 0.12, P = 0.20). Further, MPOD was inversely related to flanker interference scores for reaction time (rs = −0.29, P = 0.02) and accuracy (rs = −0.28, P = 0.03), indicating that children with higher retinal carotenoids exhibited superior ability to maintain cognitive control performance when faced with greater task demands. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that carotenoid levels in skin and retina are correlated in children. These findings further suggest that carotenoid status in children is associated with cognition, perhaps selectively across site of accumulation and cognitive domains. Funding Sources This work was supported by funds provided by the Egg Nutrition Center.

Neurostimulation in alcohol dependence: The effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on brain function and craving

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S59-S59
Author(s):  
J. Jansen ◽  
O. van den Heuvel ◽  
Y. van der Werf ◽  
S. De Wit ◽  
D. Veltman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Alcohol Dependence ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Fmri Session

BackgroundAlcohol dependence has long been related to impaired processing and handling of negative emotions. This is the first study to compare emotion regulation (ER) at a behavioral and neural level in alcohol dependent patients (ADPs) and healthy controls (HCs). It also examines the effects of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on ER abilities and related craving levels in ADPs.MethodThirty-six ADPs and 32 HCs matched on age, sex, and education, were included in a within-subject fixed-order study with one functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session and one rTMS plus fMRI session, with high-frequency (10 Hz) rTMS over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). An fMRI emotion regulation task (ERT) was administered during both sessions and craving was measured before and after each ERT.ResultsADPs were impaired in the regulation of negative emotion and showed a higher activation of ER related brain areas compared to HCs. Furthermore, active rTMS improved ER abilities in both ADPs and HCs, but was accompanied by a decrease in anterior cingulate and left dlPFC activity only in ADPs. In addition, the ERT-induced increase in craving levels in ADPs was trend-significantly reduced by active rTMS, with a large effect size.ConclusionsADPs are impaired in the regulation of negative emotion and show enhanced neural activity in the ER brain circuit. High-frequency rTMS improves ER in ADPs and HCs and normalizes neural activity and tends to reduce craving in ADPs. Future studies are needed to test the long-term effects of (multiple session) rTMS on ER, craving, and drinking.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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