Advance Preparation in Task-Switching: Converging Evidence from Behavioral, Brain Activation, and Model-Based Approaches

Recent research has taken advantage of the temporal and spatial resolution of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the time course and neural circuitry of preparatory processes required to switch between different tasks. Here we overview some key findings contributing to understanding strategic processes in advance preparation. Findings from these methodologies are compatible with advance preparation conceptualized as a set of processes activated for both switch and repeat trials, but with substantial variability as a function of individual differences and task requirements. We then highlight new approaches that attempt to capitalize on this variability to link behavior and brain activation patterns. One approach examines correlations among behavioral, ERP and fMRI measures. A second “model-based” approach accounts for differences in preparatory processes by estimating quantitative model parameters that reflect latent psychological processes. We argue that integration of behavioral and neuroscientific methodologies is key to understanding the complex nature of advance preparation in task-switching

Jamadar resting state brain conference accessible slides

Accessible version of slides presented to RSBC Dallas September 202

Towards equivalent Go/NoGo tasks across psychophysiological contexts: Recommendations for task design

In three studies, we examined markers of inhibitory processing (N2 and P3 amplitude, as well as response time (RT) and error rates) in Go/NoGo tasks with short vs long SOAs. We provide guidelines for task design for Go/NoGo researchers across psychophysiological methodologies, so that researchers may increase the inhibitory requirements when long SOAs are required

Towards equivalent Go/NoGo tasks across psychophysiological contexts: Recommendations for task design

In three studies, we examined markers of inhibitory processing (N2 and P3 amplitude, as well as response time (RT) and error rates) in Go/NoGo tasks with short vs long SOAs. We provide guidelines for task design for Go/NoGo researchers across psychophysiological methodologies, so that researchers may increase the inhibitory requirements when long SOAs are required

Event-related potentials reveal multiple components of proactive and reactive control in task switching

Task-switching performance relies on both proactive control processes that contribute to preparation during the cue-target interval and reactive control processes that contribute to interference control after target onset. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have excellent temporal resolution that is unmatched by other neuroimaging methods. In the context of task-switching paradigms, ERPs offer a unique approach for temporally distinguishing between proactive and reactive control processes that contribute to variability in task-switching performance. In this chapter, we highlight findings from the ERP task-switching literature that inform theoretical models of task-switching and cognitive control. Within the cue-target interval, we focus primarily on the cue-locked 'switch-positivity', a parietally-maximal increase in positivity for switch than for repeat trials. We present evidence that proactive control during task-switching involves both general and switch-specific preparation, and that switch-specific preparation itself consists of multiple processes. After target onset, we review evidence for switch-related modulation of frontocentral N2 and centroparietal P3b components that are related to conflict control and decision processes, as well as the lateralised readiness potential (LRP), which indexes processes associated with response preparation and implementation. We discuss evidence that reactive control in task-switching involves resolution of target-related interference and difficulty of task implementation processes, and that both response selection and response activation are modulated by the need to switch tasks. Finally, we present emerging evidence from studies that combine ERP measures with other techniques, such as formal cognitive modeling, functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and imaging genetics. We conclude that these multi-modal approaches enhance our understanding of individual differences in cognitive control and refine current neural models of cognitive control.

Self in Pregnancy - Shape-label matching, Intentional Binding, and Self-Report

The self-model is a dynamic, cognitively constructed representation integrating one’s own dispositions, traits, history, agency, body-representations. It is continually shaped by our experiences and in turn, shapes how we act in the world. The experiences associated with pregnancy provide a unique opportunity to study how the brain learns self-related information anew, as the mother’s* sense of self is destabilised at many levels of cortical processing. Pregnant people must learn to attribute sensations from within the body, which have always been attributable to the self, to another organism, the human foetus. Further, in most cases, pregnant women learn to embody the new social role of mother, which involves adopting a new set of values and dispositions for action. This upheaval in many aspects of the self during pregnancy provide a unique opportunity to study learning related to the healthy, changing self. In this experiment, we test a group of women who are pregnant for the first time (primigravida) against a group of never-been-pregnant women (nulligravida) for differences in self-reported measures of the self, the body, and sense of control. We also compare performance on tasks which measure implicit, low level cognitive biases towards self-related stimuli, and an implicit measure of the sense of agency. *Mother and women here are operationalised as individuals with a womb, and are not intended to exclude trans and nonbinary people who carry children

Sense of Self in First-Time Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a time of profound upheaval of the self, when in addition to undergoing dramatic physical changes to accommodate a developing foetus, significant cognitive and social transformations occur in preparation for birth and parenthood. So far, research into cognitive constructions of the self have been either infant-centric or psychopathology-focused, so our understanding of the healthy, changing self in pregnancy remains relatively poor. This online experiment uses online questionnaires and two cognitive tasks to investigate how constructs relating to the mental self-model, including body representation, self-concept clarity, sense of agency, general self-efficacy and self-attribute learning differ between first-time pregnant (n = 100) and never-been pregnant (n = 102) women. Results indicate that first time pregnancy is associated with significantly higher sense of body agency, body visibility, and body estrangement. Poorer accuracy for newly-learned associations was also observed in the pregnant group. Whilst a typical self-processing bias was observed in both groups as expected, an intentional binding effect was absent. Notably, post-hoc exploratory analyses provide initial evidence for trimester effects, with decisively higher self-reported sense of negative agency in the first and third trimesters compared to the never-pregnant group. Further, body agency and self-efficacy were higher in the second trimester group compared to the never-pregnant group, suggesting a period of relative recovery and consolidation of the new self. Taken together, our results suggest that aspects of self-representation and agency undergo significant shifts over the course of pregnancy, and provide multiple exciting avenues for future research

Sequence effects in cued task switching modulate response preparedness and repetition priming processes

In task-switching paradigms, reaction time (RT) switch cost is eliminated on trials after a no-go trial (no-go/go sequence effect). We examined the locus of no-go interference on task-switching performance by comparing the event-related potential (ERP) time course of go/go and no-go/go sequences from cue onset to response execution. We also examined whether noninformative trials (i.e., delayed reconfiguration, no response inhibition) produce similar sequence effects. Participants switched using informative and noninformative cues (Experiment 2) intermixed with no-go trials (Experiment 1). Repeat RT was slower for both no-go/informative (pNG/I) and noninformative/informative (pNI/I) than informative/informative sequences. ERPs linked to anticipatory preparation showed no effect of trial sequence. ERPs indicated that pNG/I sequences reduce response readiness whereas pNI/I sequences reduce repetition benefit for repeat trials. Implications for task-switching models are discussed

Linking the Meso and Macroscale Determinants of Cerebral Ageing

Neuroimaging methods provide a non-invasive means to understand how the brain changes over the course of a typical lifespan in-vivo. Macroscale neuroimaging studies of “healthy” human ageing rarely consider small-scale (microscale) biological processes that underlie age-related changes to the tissues, processes and functions of the brain. By considering these microscale changes, we stand to better understand the underlying causes and processes that give rise to age-related cerebral changes captured by these images. This review addresses the gap by describing the known and putative connections between neuroimaging studies of ageing and molecular biology. The connections are described in relation to structural, inflammatory, vascular, and metabolic brain changes with age. We summarise the cerebral changes, how they can be visualised with neuroimaging methods and the microscale biological processes that underlie the visible macroscale changes