scholarly journals Urgency forces stimulus-driven action by overcoming cognitive control

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian H Poth
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Intelligent Behavior ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Manual Tasks ◽  
Conflicting Stimulus

Intelligent behavior requires to act directed by goals despite competing action tendencies triggered by stimuli in the environment. For eye movements, it has recently been discovered that this ability is briefly reduced in urgent situations (Salinas et al., 2019). In a time-window before an urgent response, participants could not help but look at a suddenly appearing visual stimulus, even though their goal was to look away from it. Urgency seemed to provoke a new visual–oculomotor phenomenon: A period in which saccadic eye movements are dominated by external stimuli, and uncontrollable by current goals. This period was assumed to arise from brain mechanisms controlling eye movements and spatial attention, such as those of the frontal eye field. Here, we show that the phenomenon is more general than previously thought. We found that also in well-investigated manual tasks, urgency made goal-conflicting stimulus features dominate behavioral responses. This dominance of behavior followed established trial-to-trial signatures of cognitive control mechanisms that replicate across a variety of tasks. Thus together, these findings reveal that urgency temporarily forces stimulus-driven action by overcoming cognitive control in general, not only at brain mechanisms controlling eye movements.

scholarly journals Urgency disrupts cognitive control of human action

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian H. Poth
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Manual Tasks ◽  
Conflicting Stimulus

AbstractIntelligent behavior requires cognitive control, the ability to act directed by goals despite competing action tendencies triggered by stimuli in the environment. For eye movements, it has recently been discovered that cognitive control is briefly disrupted in urgent situations (Salinas et al., 2019). In a time-window before an urgent response, participants could not help but look at a suddenly appearing visual stimulus, even though their goal was to look away from it. Urgency seemed to provoke a new visual-oculomotor phenomenon: A period in which saccadic eye movements are dominated by external stimuli, and uncontrollable by current goals. This period was assumed to arise from brain mechanisms controlling eye movements and spatial attention, such as those of the frontal eye field. Here, we show that the phenomenon is more general than previously thought. We found that urgency disrupted cognitive control also in well-investigated manual tasks, so that responses were dominated by goal-conflicting stimulus features. This dominance of behavior followed established trial-to-trial signatures of cognitive control that replicate across a variety of tasks. Thus together, these findings reveal that urgency temporarily impairs cognitive control in general, not only at brain mechanisms controlling eye movements.

scholarly journals Cognitive control in bilinguals: Advantages in Stimulus–Stimulus inhibition

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 610-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
HENRIKE K. BLUMENFELD ◽  
VIORICA MARIAN
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Stroop Task ◽  
Simon Task ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Language Profiles

Bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals at suppressing task-irrelevant information and on overall speed during cognitive control tasks. Here, monolinguals’ and bilinguals’ performance was compared on two nonlinguistic tasks: a Stroop task (with perceptualStimulus–Stimulus conflictamong stimulus features) and a Simon task (withStimulus–Response conflict). Across two experiments testing bilinguals with different language profiles, bilinguals showed more efficient Stroop than Simon performance, relative to monolinguals, who showed fewer differences across the two tasks. Findings suggest that bilingualism may engage Stroop-type cognitive control mechanisms more than Simon-type mechanisms, likely due to increased Stimulus–Stimulus conflict during bilingual language processing. Findings are discussed in light of previous research on bilingual Stroop and Simon performance.

Suppression of Task-Related Saccades by Electrical Stimulation in the Primate's Frontal Eye Field

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 2252-2267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Burman ◽  
Charles J. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Association Cortex ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Eye Field

Burman, Douglas D. and Charles J. Bruce. Suppression of task-related saccades by electrical stimulation in the primate's frontal eye field. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 2252–2267, 1997. Patients with frontal lobe damage have difficulty suppressing reflexive saccades to salient visual stimuli, indicating that frontal lobe neocortex helps to suppress saccades as well as to produce them. In the present study, a role for the frontal eye field (FEF) in suppressing saccades was demonstrated in macaque monkeys by application of intracortical microstimulation during the performance of a visually guided saccade task, a memory prosaccade task, and a memory antisaccade task. A train of low-intensity (20–50 μA) electrical pulses was applied simultaneously with the disappearance of a central fixation target, which was always the cue to initiate a saccade. Trials with and without stimulation were compared, and significantly longer saccade latencies on stimulation trials were considered evidence of suppression. Low-intensity stimulation suppressed task-related saccades at 30 of 77 sites tested. In many cases saccades were suppressed throughout the microstimulation period (usually 450 ms) and then executed shortly after the train ended. Memory-guided saccades were most dramatically suppressed and were often rendered hypometric, whereas visually guided saccades were less severely suppressed by stimulation. At 18 FEF sites, the suppression of saccades was the only observable effect of electrical stimulation. Contraversive saccades were usually more strongly suppressed than ipsiversive ones, and cells recorded at such purely suppressive sites commonly had either foveal receptive fields or postsaccadic responses. At 12 other FEF sites at which saccadic eye movements were elicited at low thresholds, task-related saccades whose vectors differed from that of the electrically elicited saccade were suppressed by electrical stimulation. Such suppression at saccade sites was observed even with currents below the threshold for eliciting saccades. Pure suppression sites tended to be located near or in the fundus, deeper in the anterior bank of the arcuate than elicited saccade sites. Stimulation in the prefrontal association cortex anterior to FEF did not suppress saccades, nor did stimulation in premotor cortex posterior to FEF. These findings indicate that the primate FEF can help orchestrate saccadic eye movements by suppressing inappropriate saccade vectors as well as by selecting, specifying, and triggering appropriate saccades. We hypothesize that saccades could be suppressed both through local FEF interactions and through FEF projections to subcortical regions involved in maintaining fixation.

scholarly journals The Dynamics of Proactive and Reactive Cognitive Control Processes in the Human Brain

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1021-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Gregory Appelbaum ◽  
C. Nicolas Boehler ◽  
Lauren A. Davis ◽  
Robert J. Won ◽  
Marty G. Woldorff
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Color Word ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Irrelevant Stimulus ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Late Positive Component ◽  
Color Identification ◽  
Conflicting Stimulus

In this study, we leveraged the high temporal resolution of EEG to examine the neural mechanisms underlying the flexible regulation of cognitive control that unfolds over different timescales. We measured behavioral and neural effects of color–word incongruency, as different groups of participants performed three different versions of color–word Stroop tasks in which the relative timing of the color and word features varied from trial to trial. For this purpose, we used a standard Stroop color identification task with equal congruent-to-incongruent proportions (50%/50%), along with two versions of the “Reverse Stroop” word identification tasks, for which we manipulated the incongruency proportion (50%/50% and 80%/20%). Two canonical ERP markers of neural processing of stimulus incongruency, the frontocentral negative polarity incongruency wave (NINC) and the late positive component (LPC), were evoked across the various conditions. Results indicated that color–word incongruency interacted with the relative feature timing, producing greater neural and behavioral effects when the task-irrelevant stimulus preceded the target, but still significant effects when it followed. Additionally, both behavioral and neural incongruency effects were reduced by nearly half in the word identification task (Reverse Stroop 50/50) relative to the color identification task (Stroop 50/50), with these effects essentially fully recovering when incongruent trials appeared only infrequently (Reverse Stroop 80/20). Across the conditions, NINC amplitudes closely paralleled RTs, indicating this component is sensitive to the overall level of stimulus conflict. In contrast, LPC amplitudes were largest with infrequent incongruent trials, suggesting a possible readjustment role when proactive control is reduced. These findings thus unveil distinct control mechanisms that unfold over time in response to conflicting stimulus input under different contexts.

Muscimol-Induced Inactivation of Monkey Frontal Eye Field: Effects on Visually and Memory-Guided Saccades

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 2191-2214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa C. Dias ◽  
Mark A. Segraves
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Field Effects ◽  
Progressive Loss ◽  
Eye Field

Muscimol-induced inactivation of the monkey frontal eye field: effects on visually and memory-guided saccades. Although neurophysiological, anatomic, and imaging evidence suggest that the frontal eye field (FEF) participates in the generation of eye movements, chronic lesions of the FEF in both humans and monkeys appear to cause only minor deficits in visually guided saccade generation. Stronger effects are observed when subjects are tested in tasks with more cognitive requirements. We tested oculomotor function after acutely inactivating regions of the FEF to minimize the effects of plasticity and reallocation of function after the loss of the FEF and gain more insight into the FEF contribution to the guidance of eye movements in the intact brain. Inactivation was induced by microinjecting muscimol directly into physiologically defined sites in the FEF of three monkeys. FEF inactivation severely impaired the monkeys’ performance of both visually guided and memory-guided saccades. The monkeys initiated fewer saccades to the retinotopic representation of the inactivated FEF site than to any other location in the visual field. The saccades that were initiated had longer latencies, slower velocities, and larger targeting errors than controls. These effects were present both for visually guided and for memory-guided saccades, although the memory-guided saccades were more disrupted. Initially, the effects were restricted spatially, concentrating around the retinotopic representation at the center of the inactivated site, but, during the course of several hours, these effects spread to flanking representations. Predictability of target location and motivation of the monkey also affected saccadic performance. For memory-guided saccades, increases in the time during which the monkey had to remember the spatial location of a target resulted in further decreases in the accuracy of the saccades and in smaller peak velocities, suggesting a progressive loss of the capacity to maintain a representation of target location in relation to the fovea after FEF inactivation. In addition, the monkeys frequently made premature saccades to targets in the hemifield ipsilateral to the injection site when performing the memory task, indicating a deficit in the control of fixation that could be a consequence of an imbalance between ipsilateral and contralateral FEF activity after the injection. There was also a progressive loss of fixation accuracy, and the monkeys tended to restrict spontaneous visual scanning to the ipsilateral hemifield. These results emphasize the strong role of the FEF in the intact monkey in the generation of all voluntary saccadic eye movements, as well as in the control of fixation.

Primate frontal eye fields. III. Maintenance of a spatially accurate saccade signal

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Goldberg ◽  
C. J. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Frontal Eye Fields ◽  
Significant Activity ◽  
Double Step ◽  
Retinal Stimulation ◽  
Movement Field ◽  
The Right

1. We studied the activity of single neurons in the monkey frontal eye fields during oculomotor tasks designed to assess the activity of these neurons when there was a dissonance between the spatial location of a target and its position on the retina. 2. Neurons with presaccadic activity were first studied to determine their receptive or movement fields and to classify them as visual, visuomovement, or movement cells with the use of the criteria described previously (Bruce and Goldberg 1985). The neurons were then studied by the use of double-step tasks that dissociated the retinal coordinates of visual targets from the dimensions of saccadic eye movements necessary to acquire those targets. These tasks required that the monkeys make two successive saccades to follow two sequentially flashed targets. Because the second target disappeared before the first saccade occurred, the dimensions of the second saccade could not be based solely on the retinal coordinates of the target but also depended on the dimensions of the first saccade. We used two versions of the double-step task. In one version neither target appeared in the cell's receptive or movement field, but the second eye movement was the optimum amplitude and direction for the cell (right-EM/wrong-RF task). In the other the second stimulus appeared in the cell's receptive field, but neither eye movement was appropriate for the cell (wrong-EM/right-RF task). 3. Most frontal-eye-field cells discharged in the right-EM/wrong-RF version of the double-step task. Their discharge began after the first saccade and continued until the second saccade was made. They usually discharged even on occasional trials in which the monkey failed to make the second saccade. They discharged much less, or not at all, in the wrong-EM/right-RF version of the double-step paradigm. Thus most presaccadic cells in the frontal eye fields were tuned to the dimensions of saccadic eye movements rather than to the coordinates of retinal stimulation. 4. Eleven movement cells (including 1 which also had independent postsaccadic activity for saccades opposite its presaccadic movement field) were studied, and all had significant activity in the right-EM/wrong-RF task. 5. Almost all (28/32) visuomovement cells, including 12 with independent postsaccadic activity, discharged in the right-EM/wrong-RF task. None of the four that failed had independent postsaccadic activity. 6. The majority (26/40) of visual cells were responsive in the right-EM/wrong-RF task.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Deficits in eye movements following frontal eye-field and superior colliculus ablations

1980 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1175-1189 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Schiller ◽  
S. D. True ◽  
J. L. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
The Other ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Saccade Velocity ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Parallel Channels ◽  
Coil Method

1. This study investigated the effects of frontal eye-field and superior colliculus ablations on fixation patterns and saccadic eye movements. Monkeys were trained to pick apple pieces out of a multiple-slotted apple board while their heads were fixed. Eye movement records were obtained using predominantly the implanted search-coil method. 2. Both unilateral and bilateral frontal eye-field lesions produced only temporary deficits in eye movements. Following surgery monkeys tended to neglect the contralateral peripheral visual field and made fewer saccades to peripheral targets. Recovery was virtually completed in 2-4 wk. 3. Superior colliculus ablation reduced fixation accuracy, saccade frequency, and saccade velocity. These deficits showed little recovery with time. 4. Paired frontal eye-field and superior colliculus lesions produced dramatic deficits in visually triggered eye movements. Animals could no longer fixate their eyes on visual targets with any degree of accuracy. The range of eye movements was greatly reduced, as was the frequency and velocity of saccades. These deficits showed little recovery with time. 5. These results suggest that visually triggered saccadic eye movements are controlled by two parallel channels, one involving the superior colliculus and the other the frontal eye field.

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