How conflict-specific is cognitive control?

Kognitive Kontrolle bezieht sich auf eine Vielzahl mentaler Fähigkeiten, die es uns erlauben im täglichen Leben zielgerichtete Entscheidungen zu treffen und sich flexibel an sich ständig ändernde Umweltanforderungen anzupassen. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation war es heraus zu finden, ob Kernfunktionen im Bereich der Konfliktüberwachung, Konfliktkontrolle, Fehlerverarbeitung und die daraus resultierenden Verhaltensanpassungen durch ein einheitliches Kontrollnetzwerk geleistet werden, oder ob spezifische Mechanismen die möglicherweise durch unabhängige neuronale Kontrollschleifen realisiert sind, die Flexibilität unserer Anpassungsfähigkeit steuern. Studie 1 und Studie 2 untersuchen sowohl generelle aus auch spezifische Aspekte der Konflikt- und Fehlerverarbeitung mit Hilfe klassischer Konfliktparadigmen und dem Einsatz von Zeit-Frequenz-analytischen Auswertungsmethoden. Studie 1 untersucht anhand 3 verschiedener Konfliktparadigmen (Simon, Flanker, NoGo) die Modulation der Theta Aktivität (4-8 Hz) und verortet diese grob innerhalb des medial frontalen Cortex (MFC), einer Struktur die durch eine Vielzahl von Studien als entscheidend bei der Konfliktverarbeitung angesehen wird. Die gefundene Theta Aktivität wurde in Studie 2 genutzt, um auch dynamische Netzwerkaktivierungen bei der Bearbeitung von Reiz- und Reaktionskonflikten zu beobachten. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass ein vermutetes Netzwerk bestehend aus MFC, lateralen präfrontalen Cortices und motorischen Arealen bei der Lösung von Reaktionskonflikten beteiligt ist. In Studie 3 wird eine Simon-Aufgabe, die innerhalb von belohnenden oder bestrafenden Kontexten durchgeführt wurde, genutzt um zu zeigen, dass Konflikt- und Fehlerverarbeitung differentiell durch die Kontextmanipulation beeinflusst werden. Entgegen voriger Annahmen scheinen mehrere neuronale Kontrollsysteme an der Lösung von Konflikten und daraus resultierenden Verhaltensanpassungen beteiligt zu sein.Cognitive control refers to a set of mental abilities that allow us goal-directed behavior in everyday life and to flexibly adapt to permanently changing environmental demands. The goal of the present dissertation was to investigate whether core functions in the area of conflict monitoring, conflict control, error processing and behavioral adjustments caused by these processes are enabled via a unitary control network or whether specific mechanisms that are possibly realized via independent control loops are responsible for the flexibility of our adaptability. Study 1 and 2 investigate general as well as specific aspects of conflict and error processing by using classic conflict paradigms and time-frequency-analytic methods. Study 1 compares the modulation of theta activity (4-8 Hz) across 3 conflict paradigms (Simon, Flanker, NoGo) and roughly situates it within medial frontal cortex (MFC), a structure which has been characterized as crucial for conflict processing in manifold studies. The found theta activity has been used in study 2, to observe dynamic network activations during processing of stimulus and response conflicts. Data confirmed that a hypothesized network consisting of MFC, lateral prefrontal cortices and motor areas is involved in conflict resolution. In study 3 we used a Simon task which was executed either during a rewarding or a punishing context assessing the influence of motivational contexts on conflict adaptation revealing that conflict and error processing were influenced differentially by the context manipulation. Against previous assumptions, several neuronal control systems seem to be engaged during conflict resolution and resulting behavioral adjustments

Reward and Punishment Effects on Error Processing and Conflict Control

Recently, positive affect has been reported to reduce cognitive conflicts and adaptations related to conflict control. van Steenbergen et al. (2009) proposed that the aversive quality of conflicts drives short-term adaptations following a conflict. They reasoned that monetary gain and its positive emotional consequences might counteract the aversive quality of conflict and hence reduce subsequent adaptations. In two experiments, we combined Simon-type conflicts with monetary gains and losses in between trials and analyzed event-related brain potentials. In Experiment 1, gains and losses occurred randomly between trials as a lottery, whereas in Experiment 2 gains and losses were contingent upon performance, either rewarding the 25% fastest responses or penalizing the 25% slowest responses. In Experiment 1, conflict adaptation was completely unaffected by gains or losses; contrary to predictions, in Experiment 2, conflict adaptation in reward blocks was more pronounced after a gain. In Experiment 2 we also investigated the error-related negativity (ERN) – a brain signal proposed to be related to performance monitoring. The ERN and behavioral post-error slowing were enlarged in the context of reward; therefore, reward increases error adaptation, possibly by enhancing the subjective value of errors. In conclusion, affective modulations of conflict adaptations seem to be much more limited than previously asserted and adaptive mechanisms triggered by errors and conflicts dissociate.Peer Reviewe

Semantics prevalence over syntax during sentence processing: A brain potential study of noun–adjective agreement in Spanish

A review of the literature about the interplay of syntax and semantics, using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), revealed that the results are highly heterogeneous, owing to several possible variables. An experiment was conducted with Spanish sentences that factorially combined syntactic and semantic violations in the same sentence-intermediate adjective and controlled for working memory demands, variables that in previous studies have rarely been taken into consideration. Violations consisted in noun-adjective number or gender disagreements (syntactic violation), noun-adjective semantic incompatibility (semantic violation), or both (combined violation). The N400 to semantic violations was unaffected by additional syntactic violations. The P600/SPS component, considered to reflect syntactic processes, was elicited by both single syntactic and semantic violations but seemed to be Introduction Most current models of language processing agree that different types of constraints have to be considered during sentence comprehension ⁎ Corresponding author

Cortical beta power reflects decision dynamics and uncovers multiple facets of post-error adaptation

People slow down reactions after errors, yet it is debated whether the mechanisms behind this slowing are beneficial for future performance. Here, the authors show that EEG measures converge with model predictions supporting a complex but overall beneficial mechanism of post-error slowing

A studyforrest extension, simultaneous fMRI and eye gaze recordings during prolonged natural stimulation

Here we present an update of the studyforrest (http://studyforrest.org) dataset that complements the previously released functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data for natural language processing with a new two-hour 3 Tesla fMRI acquisition while 15 of the original participants were shown an audio-visual version of the stimulus motion picture. We demonstrate with two validation analyses that these new data support modeling specific properties of the complex natural stimulus, as well as a substantial within-subject BOLD response congruency in brain areas related to the processing of auditory inputs, speech, and narrative when compared to the existing fMRI data for audio-only stimulation. In addition, we provide participants' eye gaze location as recorded simultaneously with fMRI, and an additional sample of 15 control participants whose eye gaze trajectories for the entire movie were recorded in a lab setting-to enable studies on attentional processes and comparative investigations on the potential impact of the stimulation setting on these processes