Chapter 12: Cognitive control Flashcards
What is the input and output for cognitive control?
Input: sensory info
Output: one/two selected actions at a time
What is cognitive control?
Executive functions that enable us to use perceptions and knowledge and goals to bias selection of action
What is the difference between habits and goal-directed action?
Habits: action is automatically triggered by a stimulus
Goal-directed: action to achieve a goal that requires knowledge of the relationship between action and outcome
What prefrontal system is active in goal-directed behavior and what system is active in conflict monitoring?
Goal-directed: lateral PFC + frontal pole
Conflict monitoring: medial PFC + ACC
What is the difference in function between goal-directed behavior and conflict monitoring?
- Goal-directed:
- Maintenance of goals in working memory
- Filtering information according to goals
- Planning and organization - Conflict-monitoring:
- Monitoring goal achievement, including errors, negative feedback and surprise
- Modulation of degree of cognitive control
What are the consequences of PFC lesions?
Impairment in forming, updating and implementing rules for appropriate and effective behavior
- Perseveration: persisting even though it’s incorrect
- Apathy, distractibility, impulsivity
- not following rules, not planning, not understanding consequences
- socially inappropriate
What is the environmental dependency syndrome? What two types of behavior are associated with this?
Happens after PFC lesions.
- Actions guided on environment and not own personal goals
Two types of behavior:
- Imitation behavior
- Utilization behavior: keep drinking out of a glass when you’re not thirsty
What is the difference between the PFC in humans and other primates?
Humans have not a relatively larger PFC, but do have relatively more white matter volume
What does the delayed-response study investigate, how does it work and what happens in the delay period?
What are the main conclusions?
Investigates: neural bases of working memory (for maintaining goals)
How does it work:
- Retain attribute that is currently not present, but it is after a delay
Delay period:
- Lateral PFC neurons fire
Conclusion:
- Memorizing in lateral PFC
- Neurons are flexible: if task changes, neuron retain information
- Neurons represent task goals, not task-relevant information
What is the integrative model of goal-directed processing?
Goal is in PFC
It interacts with high level sensory areas that have representation of task-relevant information
What is dynamic filtering?
Selection of task-relevant information
What is the role of the lateral PFC and the posterior cortex in filtering?
Lateral PFC:
- Selects different types of information via attention according to dynamic goals
Posterior cortex:
- Inhibits task-irrelevant information and enhances task-relevant information
What is attentional selection? What is the consequence of damage to lateral PFC?
Task goals modulate posterior cortex.
- Enhancement for task-relevant categories
Damage lateral PFC results in:
- reduced inhibition of irrelevent info
How does inhibition of action work and with what test is this assessed? How do you abort a response?
Test: stop-signal test
- Stop signal activates right inferior frontal gyrus
- If action is already too far going, IFG can’t stop motor cortex, SMA, MFC and basal ganglia (STN)
Aborting a response:
Inferior frontal gyrus to STN and STN excites GPi, which inhibits thalamus strongly, which reduces activity for motor movement in cortex
What is the posterior-to-anterior gradient in the PFC?
Anterior: more complex tasks
Posterior: less complex tasks
Shows a goal hierarchy
