Distinct but correlated latent factors support the regulation of learned conflict-control and task-switching

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Bejjani ◽  
Rick H. Hoyle ◽  
Tobias Egner
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Latent Structure ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Latent Factors ◽  
Control Learning ◽  
Task Focus

Cognitive control is guided by learning, as people adjust control to meet changing task demands. The two best-studied instances of “control-learning” are the enhancement of attentional task focus in response to increased frequencies of incongruent distracter stimuli, reflected in the list-wide proportion congruent (LWPC) effect, and the enhancement of switch-readiness in response to increased frequencies of task switches, reflected in the list-wide proportion switch (LWPS) effect. However, the cognitive architecture underpinning these adaptations in cognitive stability and flexibility – specifically, whether there is a single, domain-general, or multiple, domain-specific learners – is currently not known. To reveal the latent structure of control-learning, we had a large sample of participants (N = 950) perform LWPC and LWPS paradigms, and afterwards assessed their explicit awareness of the task manipulations, as well as general cognitive ability and motivation. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate several preregistered models representing different plausible hypotheses concerning the latent structure of control-learning. Task performance replicated standard LWPC and LWPS effects. Crucially, the model that best fit the data had correlated domain- and context-specific latent factors. In other words, people’s ability to adapt their on-task focus and between-task switch-readiness to changing levels of demand was mediated by distinct (though correlated) underlying factors. Model fit remained good when accounting for variance in individual cognitive ability and self-reported motivation, as well as self-reported explicit awareness of manipulations and the order in which different levels of demand were experienced. Implications of these results for the cognitive architecture of dynamic cognitive control are discussed.

scholarly journals Intermittent Absence of Control during Reinforcement Learning Interferes with Pavlovian Bias in Action Selection

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 646-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gábor Csifcsák ◽  
Eirik Melsæter ◽  
Matthias Mittner
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Learned Helplessness ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Behavioral Manipulation ◽  
Different Response

The ability to control the occurrence of rewarding and punishing events is crucial for our well-being. Two ways to optimize performance are to follow heuristics like Pavlovian biases to approach reward and avoid loss or to rely more on slowly accumulated stimulus–action associations. Although reduced control over outcomes has been linked to suboptimal decision-making in clinical conditions associated with learned helplessness, it is unclear how uncontrollability of the environment is related to the arbitration between different response strategies. This study directly tested whether a behavioral manipulation designed to induce learned helplessness in healthy adults (intermittent loss of control over feedback in a reinforcement learning task; “yoking”) would modulate the magnitude of Pavlovian bias and the neurophysiological signature of cognitive control (frontal midline theta power) in healthy adults. Using statistical analysis and computational modeling of behavioral data and electroencephalographic signals, we found stronger Pavlovian influences and alterations in frontal theta activity in the yoked group. However, these effects were not accompanied by reduced performance in experimental blocks with regained control, indicating that our behavioral manipulation was not potent enough for inducing helplessness and impaired coping ability with task demands. We conclude that the level of contingency between instrumental choices and rewards/punishments modulates Pavlovian bias during value-based decision-making, probably via interfering with the implementation of cognitive control. These findings might have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying helplessness in various psychiatric conditions.

A Review of the Role of Cue Processing in Task Switching

2013 ◽  
Vol 221 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Jost ◽  
Wouter De Baene ◽  
Iring Koch ◽  
Marcel Brass
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Task Set ◽  
Switch Costs ◽  
Set Switching ◽  
Controversial Topic ◽  
Cue Encoding ◽  
Cue Processing

The role of cue processing has become a controversial topic in research on cognitive control using task-switching procedures. Some authors suggested a priming account to explain switch costs as a form of encoding benefit when the cue from the previous trial is repeated and hence challenged theories that attribute task-switch costs to task-set (re)configuration. A rich body of empirical evidence has evolved that indeed shows that cue-encoding repetition priming is an important component in task switching. However, these studies also demonstrate that there are usually substantial “true” task-switch costs. Here, we review this behavioral, electrophysiological, and brain imaging evidence. Moreover, we describe alternative approaches to the explicit task-cuing procedure, such as the usage of transition cues or the task-span procedure. In addition, we address issues related to the type of cue, such as cue transparency. We also discuss methodological and theoretical implications and argue that the explicit task-cuing procedure is suitable to address issues of cognitive control and task-set switching.

scholarly journals Theta-gamma cross-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation over the trough impairs cognitive control

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsolt Turi ◽  
Matthias Mittner ◽  
Albert Lehr ◽  
Hannah Bürger ◽  
Andrea Antal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Instrumental Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Alternating Current ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Theta Wave ◽  
Gamma Frequency ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

Cognitive control is a hypothetical mental process, which underlies adaptive goal-directed decisions. Previous studies have linked cognitive control to electrophysiological fluctuations in the theta band and theta-gamma cross-frequency coupling (CFC) arising from the cingulate and frontal cortices. Yet, to date the behavioral consequences of different forms of theta-gamma CFC remain elusive. Here, we studied the behavioral effects of the theta-gamma CFC via transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) designed to stimulate the frontal and cingulate cortices. Using a double-blind, randomized, repeated measures study design, 24 healthy participants were subjected to three main, active CFC-tACS protocols: Short gamma frequency bursts (80 Hz) were coupled to an ongoing theta cycle (4 Hz) to coincide with either the peaks or the troughs of the theta wave. In a third condition, the amplitude of the gamma oscillation was modulated by the phase of a theta cycle. In the fourth, control protocol, gamma was continuously superimposed over the theta cycle, therefore lacking any phase-specificity in the CFC. During the 20-minute stimulations, the participants performed a Go/NoGo monetary reward- and punishment-based instrumental learning task. A Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression analysis revealed that CFC-tACS over peak had no effects on the behavioral performance, whereas CFC-tACS over trough and, to a lesser extent, amplitude-modulated tACS reduced performance in conflicting trials. Our results suggest that cognitive control depends on the phase-specificity of the theta-gamma CFC.

scholarly journals Processing of Task-Irrelevant Race Information is Associated with Diminished Cognitive Control in Black and White Individuals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estée Rubien-Thomas ◽  
Nia Berrian ◽  
Alessandra Cervera ◽  
Binyam Nardos ◽  
Alexandra O. Cohen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Face Area ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Black Faces

AbstractThe race of an individual is a salient physical feature that is rapidly processed by the brain and can bias our perceptions of others. How the race of others explicitly impacts our actions toward them during intergroup contexts is not well understood. In the current study, we examined how task-irrelevant race information influences cognitive control in a go/no-go task in a community sample of Black (n = 54) and White (n = 51) participants. We examined the neural correlates of behavioral effects using functional magnetic resonance imaging and explored the influence of implicit racial attitudes on brain-behavior associations. Both Black and White participants showed more cognitive control failures, as indexed by dprime, to Black versus White faces, despite the irrelevance of race to the task demands. This behavioral pattern was paralleled by greater activity to Black faces in the fusiform face area, implicated in processing face and in-group information, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex, associated with resolving stimulus-response conflict. Exploratory brain-behavior associations suggest different patterns in Black and White individuals. Black participants exhibited a negative association between fusiform activity and response time during impulsive errors to Black faces, whereas White participants showed a positive association between lateral OFC activity and cognitive control performance to Black faces when accounting for implicit racial associations. Together our findings propose that attention to race information is associated with diminished cognitive control that may be driven by different mechanisms for Black and White individuals.

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.

scholarly journals Memory-reliant Post-error Slowing Is Associated with Successful Learning and Fronto-occipital Activity

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1539-1552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn C. Schiffler ◽  
Rita Almeida ◽  
Mathias Granqvist ◽  
Sara L. Bengtsson
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Learning Theories

Negative feedback after an action in a cognitive task can lead to devaluing that action on future trials as well as to more cautious responding when encountering that same choice again. These phenomena have been explored in the past by reinforcement learning theories and cognitive control accounts, respectively. Yet, how cognitive control interacts with value updating to give rise to adequate adaptations under uncertainty is less clear. In this fMRI study, we investigated cognitive control-based behavioral adjustments during a probabilistic reinforcement learning task and studied their influence on performance in a later test phase in which the learned value of items is tested. We provide support for the idea that functionally relevant and memory-reliant behavioral adjustments in the form of post-error slowing during reinforcement learning are associated with test performance. Adjusting response speed after negative feedback was correlated with BOLD activity in right inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral middle occipital cortex during the event of receiving the feedback. Bilateral middle occipital cortex activity overlapped partly with activity reflecting feedback deviance from expectations as measured by unsigned prediction error. These results suggest that cognitive control and feature processing cortical regions interact to implement feedback-congruent adaptations beneficial to learning.

scholarly journals Trading off the cost of conflict against expected rewards

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nura Sidarus ◽  
Stefano Palminteri ◽  
Valérian Chambon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Reversal Learning ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Learning Rates ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Irrelevant Distractors ◽  
The Cost

AbstractValue-based decision-making involves trading off the cost associated with an action against its expected reward. Research has shown that both physical and mental effort constitute such subjective costs, biasing choices away from effortful actions, and discounting the value of obtained rewards. Facing conflicts between competing action alternatives is considered aversive, as recruiting cognitive control to overcome conflict is effortful. Yet, it remains unclear whether conflict is also perceived as a cost in value-based decisions. The present study investigated this question by embedding irrelevant distractors (flanker arrows) within a reversal-learning task, with intermixed free and instructed trials. Results showed that participants learned to adapt their choices to maximize rewards, but were nevertheless biased to follow the suggestions of irrelevant distractors. Thus, the perceived cost of being in conflict with an external suggestion could sometimes trump internal value representations. By adapting computational models of reinforcement learning, we assessed the influence of conflict at both the decision and learning stages. Modelling the decision showed that conflict was avoided when evidence for either action alternative was weak, demonstrating that the cost of conflict was traded off against expected rewards. During the learning phase, we found that learning rates were reduced in instructed, relative to free, choices. Learning rates were further reduced by conflict between an instruction and subjective action values, whereas learning was not robustly influenced by conflict between one’s actions and external distractors. Our results show that the subjective cost of conflict factors into value-based decision-making, and highlights that different types of conflict may have different effects on learning about action outcomes.

scholarly journals Multi-Task Brain Network Reconfiguration is Inversely Associated with Human Intelligence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Alexander Thiele ◽  
Joshua Faskowitz ◽  
Olaf Sporns ◽  
Kirsten Hilger
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Network Reconfiguration ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Functional Brain ◽  
Functional Brain Networks

Intelligence describes the general cognitive ability level of a person. It is one of the most fundamental concepts in psychological science and is crucial for effective adaption of behavior to varying environmental demands. Changing external task demands have been shown to induce reconfiguration of functional brain networks. However, whether neural reconfiguration between different tasks is associated with intelligence has not yet been investigated. We used fMRI data from 812 subjects to show that higher scores of general intelligence are related to less brain network reconfiguration between resting state and seven different tasks as well as to network reconfiguration between tasks. This association holds for all functional brain networks except the motor system, and replicates in two independent samples (N = 138, N = 184). Our findings suggest that the intrinsic network architecture of individuals with higher general intelligence scores is closer to the network architecture as required by various cognitive demands. Multi-task brain network reconfiguration may, therefore, reflect the neural equivalent of the behavioral positive manifold, i.e., the essence of the concept of general intelligence. Finally, our results support neural efficiency theories of cognitive ability and reveal insights into human intelligence as an emergent property from a distributed multi-task brain network.

scholarly journals Distinct replay signatures for planning and memory maintenance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Elliott Wimmer ◽  
Yunzhe Liu ◽  
Daniel McNamee ◽  
Raymond Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Reward Learning ◽  
Planning Strategy ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Structure Knowledge ◽  
And Task

Theories of neural replay propose that it supports a range of different functions, most prominently planning and memory maintenance. Here, we test the hypothesis that distinct replay signatures relate to planning and memory maintenance. Our reward learning task required human participants to utilize structure knowledge for 'model-based' evaluation, while maintaining knowledge for two independent and randomly alternating task environments. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and multivariate analysis, we found neural evidence for compressed forward replay during planning and backward replay following reward feedback. Prospective replay strength was enhanced for the current environment when the benefits of a model-based planning strategy were higher. Following reward receipt, backward replay for the alternative, distal environment was enhanced as a function of decreasing recency of experience for that environment. Consistent with a memory maintenance role, stronger maintenance-related replay was associated with a modulation of subsequent choices. These findings identify distinct replay signatures consistent with key theoretical proposals on planning and memory maintenance functions, with their relative strength modulated by on-going computational and task demands.

scholarly journals Sequential Congruency Effects of Reverse Stroop Interference On Event-Related Potential Components For Go- and Nogo-Stimuli

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kota Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
No Reduction ◽  
Stroop Interference ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
The Other ◽  
Color Processing ◽  
Sequential Modulation

Abstract Sequential congruency effects are observed in interference tasks, in which RTs are shorter for congruent stimuli preceded by congruent (cC) than incongruent stimuli (iC), and RTs are longer for incongruent stimuli preceded by congruent (cI) than incongruent stimuli (iI). These effects are interpreted as resulting from incongruent stimuli triggering attentional control in the next trial, which reduces cognitive control. The aim of this study was to examine sequential congruency effects on ERP components for Go- and Nogo-stimuli using the hybrid reverse Stroop Go/Nogo task. Results indicated that the Nogo-N1 was reduced by trials preceded by incongruent stimuli compared to congruent ones, suggesting that color processing was inhibited by attentional control. However, there was no reduction in the Go-N1. Moreover, the Nogo-N2 amplitudes were larger for cI than iI and iC than cC. On the other hand, the Go-N2 was not modulated by sequential modulation effects, which was lower for incongruent stimuli than congruent stimuli. These results indicate that the Nogo-N2 is involved in cognitive control, whereas the Go-N2 is associated with selection processing. Therefore, it was suggested that response inhibition task demands are necessary for modulating the ERP components by sequential congruency effects.

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