95 research outputs found
Switch-independent task representations in frontal and parietal cortex
Alternating between two tasks is effortful and impairs performance. Previous fMRI studies have found increased activity in frontoparietal cortex when task switching is required. One possibility is that the additional control demands for switch trials are met by strengthening task representations in the human brain. Alternatively, on switch trials, the residual representation of the previous task might impede the buildup of a neural task representation. This would predict weaker task representations on switch trials, thus also explaining the performance costs. To test this, male and female participants were cued to perform one of two similar tasks, with the task being repeated or switched between successive trials. Multivoxel pattern analysis was used to test which regions encode the tasks and whether this encoding differs between switch and repeat trials. As expected, we found information about task representations in frontal and parietal cortex, but there was no difference in the decoding accuracy of task-related information between switch and repeat trials. Using cross-classification, we found that the frontoparietal cortex encodes tasks using a generalizable spatial pattern in switch and repeat trials. Therefore, task representations in frontal and parietal cortex are largely switch independent. We found no evidence that neural information about task representations in these regions can explain behavioral costs usually associated with task switching
Automatic and Controlled Processing: Implications for Eating Behavior
It is a widely held view that humans have control over their food choices and consumption. However, research also suggests that eating behavior is often triggered by contextual cues and guided by automaticities and habits. Interestingly, the dichotomy between automatic and controlled processing has recently been challenged, suggesting that they may be intertwined. In a large female sample (n = 567), we investigated the hypothesis that task-based and self-reported measures of automatic and controlled processing would interact and impact self-reported eating behavior. Results analyzed via structural equation modeling suggest that automatic, but not controlled processing, during a modified flanker task, including a context-specific proportion congruent (CSPC) manipulation, was inversely associated with self-reported self-control. The influence of self-control on unhealthy eating behavior (i.e., uncontrolled and emotional eating, heightened consumption of fat and sugar) was only indirect via habitual behavior, which itself had a strong direct impact. Unhealthy eating was further associated with real-life outcomes (e.g., body mass index (BMI)). Our findings suggest that eating behavior may indeed be guided primarily by automaticities and habits, whereas self-control might facilitate this association. Having self-control over eating might therefore be most effective by avoiding contextual cues eliciting undesired automatic behavior and establishing habits that serve long-term goals
Automatic and Controlled Processing : Implications for Eating Behavior
It is a widely held view that humans have control over their food choices and consumption. However, research also suggests that eating behavior is often triggered by contextual cues and guided by automaticities and habits. Interestingly, the dichotomy between automatic and controlled processing has recently been challenged, suggesting that they may be intertwined. In a large female sample (n = 567), we investigated the hypothesis that task-based and self-reported measures of automatic and controlled processing would interact and impact self-reported eating behavior. Results analyzed via structural equation modeling suggest that automatic, but not controlled processing, during a modified flanker task, including a context-specific proportion congruent (CSPC) manipulation, was inversely associated with self-reported self-control. The influence of self-control on unhealthy eating behavior (i.e., uncontrolled and emotional eating, heightened consumption of fat and sugar) was only indirect via habitual behavior, which itself had a strong direct impact. Unhealthy eating was further associated with real-life outcomes (e.g., body mass index (BMI)). Our findings suggest that eating behavior may indeed be guided primarily by automaticities and habits, whereas self-control might facilitate this association. Having self-control over eating might therefore be most effective by avoiding contextual cues eliciting undesired automatic behavior and establishing habits that serve long-term goals.Peer reviewe
Regulating craving by anticipating positive and negative outcomes : a multivariate pattern analysis and network connectivity approach
During self-control, we may resist short-term temptations in order to reach a favorable future (e.g., resisting cake to stay healthy). The neural basis of self-control is typically attributed to “cold,” unemotional cognitive control mechanisms which inhibit affect-related regions via the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, we investigate the neural underpinnings of regulating cravings by mentally evoking the positive consequences of resisting a temptation (e.g., being healthy) as opposed to evoking the negative consequences of giving in to a temptation (e.g., becoming overweight). It is conceivable that when using these types of strategies, regions associated with emotional processing [e.g., striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)] are involved in addition to control-related prefrontal and parietal regions. Thirty-one participants saw pictures of unhealthy snacks in the fMRI scanner and, depending on the trial, regulated their craving by thinking of the positive consequences of resisting, or the negative consequences of not resisting. In a control condition, they anticipated the pleasure of eating and thus, allowed the craving to occur (now-condition). In line with previous studies, we found activation of a cognitive control network during self-regulation. In the negative future thinking condition, the insula was more active than in the positive condition, while there were no activations that were stronger in the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. However, additionally, multivariate pattern analysis showed that during craving regulation, information about the valence of anticipated emotions was present in the vmPFC, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the insula. Moreover, a network including vmPFC and PCC showed higher connectivity during the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. Since these regions are often associated with affective processing, these findings suggest that “hot,” affective processes may, at least in certain circumstances, play a role in self-control
Individual Differences in Goal Pursuit Despite Interfering Aversion, Temptation, and Distraction
Self-control can be defined as the ability to exert control over ones
impulses. Currently, most research in the area relies on self-report. Focusing
on attentional control processes involved in self-control, we modified a
spatial selective attentional cueing task to test three domains of self-
control experimentally in one task using aversive, tempting, and neutral
picture-distractors. The aims of the study were (1) to investigate individual
differences in the susceptibility to aversive, tempting, and neutral
distraction within one paradigm and (2) to test the association of these three
self-control domains to conventional measures of self-control including self-
report. The final sample consisted of 116 participants. The task required
participants to identify target letters “E” or “F” presented at a cued target
location while the distractors were presented. Behavioral and eyetracking data
were obtained during the performance of the task. High task performance was
encouraged via monetary incentives. In addition to the attentional self-
control task, self-reported self-control was assessed and participants
performed a color Stroop task, an unsolvable anagram task and a delay of
gratification task using chocolate sweets. We found that aversion, temptation,
and neutral distraction were associated with significantly increased error
rates, reaction times and gaze pattern deviations. Overall task performance on
our task correlated with self-reported self-control ability. Measures of
aversion, temptation, and distraction showed moderate split-half reliability,
but did not correlate with each other across participants. Additionally,
participants who made a self-controlled decision in the delay of gratification
task were less distracted by temptations in our task than participants who
made an impulsive choice. Our individual differences analyses suggest that (1)
the ability to endure aversion, resist temptations and ignore neutral
distractions are independent of each other and (2) these three domains are
related to other measures of self-control
a combined ecological momentary assessment and fMRI study
Regulation of emotions is necessary for successful attainment of short-term
and long-term goals. However, over-regulation may also have its costs. In
anorexia nervosa (AN), forgoing food intake despite emaciation and endocrine
signals that promote eating is an example of “too much” self-control. Here we
investigated whether voluntary emotion regulation in AN patients comes with
associated disorder-relevant costs. Thirty-five patients with acute AN and
thirty-five age-matched healthy controls (HCs) performed an established
emotion regulation paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging after
an overnight fast. The task required reducing emotions induced by positively
valenced pictures via distancing. We calculated a neural regulation score from
responses recorded in a reward-related brain region of interest (ventral
striatum; VS) by subtracting activation measured on “positive distance” trials
from that elicited under the “positive watch” (baseline) condition.
Complementing the imaging data, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA)
to probe disorder-related rumination and affect six times/day for 2 weeks
following the scanning session. The neural regulation score indicating reduced
VS activation during emotion regulation was used as a predictor in
hierarchical linear models with EMA measures as outcomes. No group differences
in neural activity were found for the main contrasts of the task. However,
regulation of VS activity was associated with increased body-related
rumination and increased negative affect in AN, but not in HC. In line with
this finding, correlational analysis with longitudinal BMI measurements
revealed a link between greater VS regulation and poorer treatment outcome
after 60 and 90 days. Together, these results identify a neural correlate of
altered emotion regulation in AN, which seems to be detrimental to
psychological well-being and may interfere with recovery
Regulating Craving by Anticipating Positive and Negative Outcomes: A Multivariate Pattern Analysis and Network Connectivity Approach
During self-control, we may resist short-term temptations in order to reach a favorable future (e.g., resisting cake to stay healthy). The neural basis of self-control is typically attributed to “cold,” unemotional cognitive control mechanisms which inhibit affect-related regions via the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, we investigate the neural underpinnings of regulating cravings by mentally evoking the positive consequences of resisting a temptation (e.g., being healthy) as opposed to evoking the negative consequences of giving in to a temptation (e.g., becoming overweight). It is conceivable that when using these types of strategies, regions associated with emotional processing [e.g., striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)] are involved in addition to control-related prefrontal and parietal regions. Thirty-one participants saw pictures of unhealthy snacks in the fMRI scanner and, depending on the trial, regulated their craving by thinking of the positive consequences of resisting, or the negative consequences of not resisting. In a control condition, they anticipated the pleasure of eating and thus, allowed the craving to occur (now-condition). In line with previous studies, we found activation of a cognitive control network during self-regulation. In the negative future thinking condition, the insula was more active than in the positive condition, while there were no activations that were stronger in the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. However, additionally, multivariate pattern analysis showed that during craving regulation, information about the valence of anticipated emotions was present in the vmPFC, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the insula. Moreover, a network including vmPFC and PCC showed higher connectivity during the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. Since these regions are often associated with affective processing, these findings suggest that “hot,” affective processes may, at least in certain circumstances, play a role in self-control
Measuring self-regulation in everyday life: reliability and validity of smartphone-based experiments in alcohol use disorder
Self-regulation, the ability to guide behavior according to one’s goals, plays an integral role in understanding loss of control over unwanted behaviors, for example in alcohol use disorder (AUD). Yet, experimental tasks that measure processes underlying self-regulation are not easy to deploy in contexts where such behaviors usually occur, namely outside the laboratory, and in clinical populations such as people with AUD. Moreover, lab-based tasks have been criticized for poor test–retest reliability and lack of construct validity. Smartphones can be used to deploy tasks in the field, but often require shorter versions of tasks, which may further decrease reliability. Here, we show that combining smartphone-based tasks with joint hierarchical modeling of longitudinal data can overcome at least some of these shortcomings. We test four short smartphone-based tasks outside the laboratory in a large sample (N = 488) of participants with AUD. Although task measures indeed have low reliability when data are analyzed traditionally by modeling each session separately, joint modeling of longitudinal data increases reliability to good and oftentimes excellent levels. We next test the measures’ construct validity and show that extracted latent factors are indeed in line with theoretical accounts of cognitive control and decision-making. Finally, we demonstrate that a resulting cognitive control factor relates to a real-life measure of drinking behavior and yields stronger correlations than single measures based on traditional analyses. Our findings demonstrate how short, smartphone-based task measures, when analyzed with joint hierarchical modeling and latent factor analysis, can overcome frequently reported shortcomings of experimental tasks
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