Enhancement of cognitive control by approach and avoidance motivational states

An Expanded Conceptual Framework for Understanding Irritability in Childhood: The Role of Cognitive Control Processes

Children prone to irritability experience significant functional impairments and internalising and externalising problems. Contemporary models have sought to elucidate the underlying mechanisms in irritability, such as aberrant threat and reward biases to improve interventions. However, the cognitive control processes that underlie threat (e.g., attention towards threats) and reward (e.g., attention towards reward-related cues) biases and the factors which influence the differential activation of positive and negative valence systems and thus leading to maladaptive activation of cognitive control processes (i.e., proactive and reactive control) are unclear. Thus, we aim to integrate extant theoretical and empirical research to elucidate the cognitive control processes underlying threat and reward processing that contribute to irritability in middle childhood and provide a guiding framework for future research and treatment. We propose an expanded conceptual framework of irritability that includes broad intraindividual and environmental vulnerability factors and propose proximal 'setting' factors that activate the negative valence and positive valence systems and proactive and reactive cognitive control processes which underpin the expression and progression of irritability. We consider the implications of this expanded conceptualisation of irritability and provide suggestions for future research.

Adult Age Differences in the Temporal Dynamics of Motivated Attention

Reward-based motivation modulates attention and cognitive control across the life span, but little is known about age differences in the temporal dynamics of motivated attention. The current study examined the effects of financial incentives on visual attention using ERPs. Participants (26 younger, aged 18-33 years; 24 older, aged 65-95 years) completed an incentivized flanker task in which trial-level incentive cues signaled the availability of performance-contingent reward, and subsequent alerting cues signaled the onset of the flanker target. ERP components of interest included cue-related components (incentive-cue P2 and contingent negative variation, and alerting-cue N1) as well as target-related components (target N1 and P3). Transient effects of incentives were assessed by comparing ERP amplitudes across incentive and non-incentive trials from mixed-incentive blocks. Sustained effects of incentives were assessed by comparing ERP amplitudes across non-incentive trials from mixed-incentive blocks and non-incentive trials from pure non-incentive blocks. Younger adults showed transient effects of incentives on all components, whereas older adults showed these effects for incentive-cue P2 and alerting-cue N1 only. Both age groups showed sustained effects of incentives on cue-locked ERPs, but only younger adults showed sustained effects on target-locked ERPs. RT patterns mirrored the ERP findings, in that younger adults showed greater incentive-based modulation than older adults, but at a greater cost to accuracy. Overall, these findings reveal widespread age differences in the dynamics of incentive-motivated attention and cognitive control, particularly at longer timescales.

Interviewing in virtual environments: Towards understanding the impact of rapport-building behaviours and retrieval context on eyewitness memory

Given the complexities of episodic memory and necessarily social nature of in-person face-to-face interviews, theoretical and evidence-based techniques for collecting episodic information from witnesses, victims, and survivors champion rapport-building. Rapport is believed to reduce some of the social demands of recalling an experienced event in an interview context, potentially increasing cognitive capacity for remembering. Cognitive and social benefits have also emerged in remote interview contexts with reduced anxiety and social pressure contributing to improved performance. Here, we investigated episodic memory in mock-eyewitness interviews conducted in virtual environments (VE) and in-person face-to-face (FtF), where rapport-building behaviours were either present or absent. Main effects revealed when rapport was present and where interviews were conducted in a VE participants recalled more correct event information, made fewer errors and were more accurate. Moreover, participants in the VE plus rapport-building present condition outperformed participants in all other conditions. Feedback indicated both rapport and environment were important for reducing the social demands of a recall interview, towards supporting effortful remembering. Our results add to the emerging literature on the utility of virtual environments as interview spaces and lend further support to the importance of prosocial behaviours in applied contexts.

Constricted semantic relations in acute depression

BACKGROUND

It has been suggested that mood influences the breadth of associated information available for retrieval, with positive mood broadening and negative mood constricting the scope of associations. In this study, we asked whether this mood-associations connection is related to controlled processes which were linked to clinical symptoms in depression.

METHODS

We used the semantic priming paradigm, which allows the dissociation of automatic and controlled processes by using short and long intervals between prime and target words. We further examined whether the strength of semantic relations (weak or strong) influence the priming effects in both neurotypical and depressed individuals.

RESULTS

Experiment 1, testing neurotypical individuals, showed priming effects for strong semantically-related words regardless of interval length, but priming effects for weak semantically-related words were smaller in short intervals than in long intervals. Experiment 2, testing depressed individuals in long intervals, showed smaller priming effects for weak semantically-related words than shown by neurotypicals, but priming effects for strong semantically-related words which were comparable between the groups.

LIMITATIONS

This study cannot determine the source for the differences in priming effects between depressed individuals and neurotypicals, and further studies are needed.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study to show priming impairments in depressed individuals. We discuss our results in light of leading theories concerning cognitive impairment in depression, as well as the newly emerged field of digital psychiatry.

Scarcity Mindset Neuro Network Decoding With Reward: A Tree-Based Model and Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

Resource scarcity imposes challenging demands on the human cognitive system. Insufficient resources cause the scarcity mindset to affect cognitive performance, while reward enhances cognitive function. Here, we examined how reward and scarcity simultaneously contribute to cognitive performance. Experimental manipulation to induce a polar scarcity mindset and reward conditions within participants under functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recording was implemented to explore the mechanism underlying the scarcity mindset and reward in terms of behavior and neurocognition. Participants showed decreased functional connectivity from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) with a scarcity mindset, a region often implicated in cognitive control. Moreover, under reward conditions, the brain activation of the maximum total Hb bold signal was mainly located in the left hemisphere [channels 1, 3, and 4, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (L-VLPFC) and channel 6, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC)], and there was also significant brain activation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (R-DLPFC) in the right hemisphere (channel 17). Furthermore, these data indicate the underlying neural changes of the scarcity mentality and demonstrate that brain activities may underlie reward processing. Additionally, the base-tree machine learning model was trained to detect the mechanism of reward function in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). According to SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), channel 8 contributed the most important effect, as well as demonstrating a high-level interrelationship with other channels.

Reward Expectation Differentially Modulates Global and Local Spatial Working Memory Accuracy

Although it has been suggested that reward expectation affects the performance of spatial working memory tasks, controversial results have been found in previous experiments. Hence, it is still unclear to what extent reward expectation has an effect on working memory. To clarify this question, a memory-guided saccade task was applied, in which participants were instructed to retain and reconstruct a temporospatial sequence of four locations by moving their eyes in each trial. The global- and local-level spatial working memory accuracies were calculated to determine the reward effect on the global and local level of processing in spatial working memory tasks. Although high reward expectation enhanced the encoding of spatial information, the percentage of trials in which the cued location was correctly fixated decreased with increment of reward expectation. The reconstruction of the global temporospatial sequence was enhanced by reward expectation, whereas the local reconstruction performance was not affected by reward. Furthermore, the improvements in local representations of uncued locations and local sequences were at the cost of the representation of cued locations. The results suggest that the reward effect on spatial working memory is modulated by the level of processing, which supports the flexible resource theory during maintenance.

The effects of reward on children's Stroop performance: Interactions with temperament

The effects of rewards on executive function (EF) reflect bidirectional interactions among motivational and executive systems that vary with age and temperament. However, methodological limitations hinder understanding of the precise influences of incentives on early EF, including the role of reward sensitivity. In this within-subjects study, ninety-three 3.5- to 5-year-olds (42 girls; 22% Hispanic; 78% White) residing in the United States completed equivalent EF measures (Stroop and non-Stroop phases) in both rewarded and non-rewarded conditions. Rewards enhanced Stroop accuracy and slowed overall response times (ds = 0.29-0.40). Critically, children with low parent-reported reward sensitivity exhibited greater reward-based increases in Stroop accuracy (r = -.30). These findings provide valuable insights on early motivation-cognition integration, highlighting temperament as a mechanism underlying these interactions.

The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control Project

We describe an ambitious ongoing study that has been strongly influenced and inspired by Don Stuss's career-long efforts to identify key cognitive processes that characterize executive control, investigate potential unifying dimensions that define prefrontal function, and carefully attend to individual differences. The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control project tests a theoretical framework positing two key control dimensions: proactive and reactive. The framework's central tenets are that proactive and reactive control modes reflect domain-general dimensions of individual variation, with distinctive neural signatures, involving the lateral pFC as a central node within associated brain networks (e.g., fronto-parietal, cingulo-opercular). In the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control project, each participant is scanned while performing theoretically targeted variants of multiple well-established cognitive control tasks (Stroop, cued task-switching, AX-CPT, Sternberg working memory) in three separate imaging sessions, that each encourages utilization of different control modes plus also completes an extensive out-of-scanner individual differences battery. Additional key features of the project include a high spatio-temporal resolution (multiband) acquisition protocol and a sample that includes a substantial subset of monozygotic twin pairs and participants recruited from the Human Connectome Project. Although data collection is still continuing (target n = 200), we provide an overview of the study design and protocol, along with initial results (n = 80) revealing evidence of a domain-general neural signature of cognitive control and its modulation under reactive conditions. Aligned with Don Stuss's legacy of scientific community building, a partial data set has been publicly released, with the full data set released at project completion, so it can serve as a valuable resource.

The association of WTELS as a master motivator with higher executive functioning and better mental health

The goal is to test the validity of the “Will to exist-live and survive (WTELS) as a master motivator that activates executive functions. A sample of 262 adults administered different measures that included WTELS and executive functions. We conducted hierarchical regressions with working memory deficits (WMD) and inhibition deficits (ID) as dependent variables. We entered in the last steps resilience and WTELS as independent variables. We conducted path analysis with WTELS as independent variables and WMD and ID as outcome variables and resilience and social support as mediating variables. WTELS accounted for the high effect size for lower working memory deficits and medium effect size for lower inhibition deficits. In path analysis, the effects of WTELS on decreased WMD were direct, while its effects on the ID were indirect. PROCESS analysis indicated that WTELS was directly associated with lower depression, anxiety, PTSD, and COVID-19 traumatic stress, and its indirect effects were mediated by lower executive function deficits (Kira et al., Psych 12:992-1024 2021c, Kira et al., in press). The path model discussed was generally superior to the alternative models and was strictly invariant across genders (male/ female).

Bottom-up influences on voluntary task switching in different reward contexts?

In humans, voluntary task switching is susceptible to bottom-up influences like a switch of the target stimulus identity (Mayr & Bell, 2006). A recent study with ants (Czaczkes, Koch, Fröber, & Dreisbach, 2018) has shown that even irrelevant cue changes increase switching behavior, but only if they are presented within a high-reward context. To investigate whether a reward context would also increase switching behavior in response to meaningless cue changes in humans, we conducted two voluntary task switching experiments. On each trial, participants chose between two tasks preceded by one of two different color cues. Reward prospect was manipulated between blocks (Experiment 1: no vs. high reward; Experiment 2: low vs. high reward). In both experiments, the cue change did not modulate the voluntary switch rate. However, the voluntary switch rate was significantly lower in high-reward blocks as compared to no-reward or low-reward blocks. This suggests that bottom-up influences on deliberate task switching in humans are limited to task-relevant information. Moreover, the finding of a decreased voluntary switch rate within a high-reward context further supports the claim that unchanged high reward prospect promotes cognitive stability.

Game-based learning environments affect frontal brain activity

Inclusion of game elements in learning environments to increase motivation and learning outcome is becoming increasingly popular. However, underlying mechanisms of game-based learning have not been studied sufficiently yet. In the present study, we investigated effects of game-based learning environments on a neurofunctional level. In particular, 59 healthy adults completed a game-based version (including game elements such as a narrative and virtual incentives) as well as a non-game-based version of a number line estimation task, to improve fractional knowledge, while their brain activity was monitored using near-infrared spectroscopy. Behavioral performance was comparable across the two versions, although there was a tendency that less errors were made in the game-based version. However, subjective user experience differed significantly between versions. Participants rated the game-based version as more attractive, novel, and stimulating but less efficient than the non-game-based version. Additionally, positive affect was reported to be higher while engaging in the game-based as compared to the non-game-based task version. Corroborating these user reports, we identified increased brain activation in areas associated with emotion and reward processing while playing the game-based version, which might be driven by rewarding elements of the game-based version. Moreover, frontal areas associated with attention were also more activated in the game-based version of the task. Hence, we observed converging evidence on a user experience and neurofunctional level indicating that the game-based version was more rewarding as well as emotionally and attentionally engaging. These results underscore the potential of game-based learning environments to promote more efficient learning by means of attention and reward up-tuning.

When Anger Motivates: Approach States Selectively Influence Running Performance

Emotional states are thought to influence athletic performance. Emotions characterized by high arousal enhance exercise performance. Extant research has focused on the valence and arousal dimensions of emotions, but not whether the motivational dimension (the extent to which the emotion engenders approach or avoidance behaviors) influences exercise performance. Two studies aimed to determine whether films and music chosen to induce approach- (i.e., anger), avoidance- (i.e., fear), and neutral-oriented emotions would successfully induce their intended emotional states (Study 1) and whether anger and fear emotion inductions would influence 2-mile time trial performance (Study 2). In Study 1, the films and music successfully induced their intended emotions. In Study 2, run time and perceived level of exertion did not differ between emotions across all participants or among faster running participants per a median split. However, among slower running participants, the anger induction increased the 2-mile running speed relative to the neutral induction. These findings suggest that emotions eliciting approach-related motivational states may improve exercise performance, particularly in slower runners.

Striatal reactivity to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load in adults at increased familial risk for major depression: A preliminary study

INTRODUCTION

Anhedonia, a core symptom of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), manifests as a lack or loss of motivation as reflected by decreased reward responsiveness, at both behavioral and neural (i.e., striatum) levels. Exposure to stressful life events is another important risk factor for MDD. However, the mechanisms linking reward-deficit and stress to MDD remain poorly understood. Here, we explore whether the effects of stress exposure on reward processing might differentiate between Healthy Vulnerable adults (HVul, i.e., positive familial MDD) from Healthy Controls (HCon). Furthermore, the well-described reduction in cognitive resources in MDD might facilitate the stress-induced decrease in reward responsiveness in HVul individuals. Accordingly, this study includes a manipulation of cognitive resources to address the latter possibility.

METHODS

16 HVul (12 females) and 16 gender- and age-matched HCon completed an fMRI study, during which they performed a working memory reward task. Three factors were manipulated: reward (reward, no-reward), cognitive resources (working memory at low and high load), and stress level (no-shock, unpredictable threat-of-shock). Only the reward anticipation phase was analyzed. Imaging analyses focused on striatal function.

RESULTS

Compared to HCon, HVul showed lower activation in the caudate nucleus across all conditions. The HVul group also exhibited lower stress-related activation in the nucleus accumbens, but only in the low working memory (WM) load condition. Moreover, while stress potentiated putamen reactivity to reward cues in HVul when the task was more demanding (high WM load), stress blunted putamen reactivity in both groups when no reward was at stake.

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest that HVul might be at increased risk of developing anhedonic symptoms due to weaker encoding of reward value, higher difficulty to engage in goal-oriented behaviors and increased sensitivity to negative feedback, particularly in stressful contexts. These findings open new avenues for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying how the complex interaction between the systems of stress and reward responsiveness contribute to the vulnerability to MDD, and how cognitive resources might modulate this interaction.

Striatal responsiveness to reward under threat-of-shock and working memory load: A preliminary study

INTRODUCTION

Reward and stress are important determinants of motivated behaviors. Striatal regions play a crucial role in both motivation and hedonic processes. So far, little is known on how cognitive effort interacts with stress to modulate reward processes. This study examines how cognitive effort (load) interacts with an unpredictable acute stressor (threat-of-shock) to modulate motivational and hedonic processes in healthy adults.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A reward task, involving stress with unpredictable mild electric shocks, was conducted in 23 healthy adults aged 20-37 (mean age: 24.7 ± 0.9; 14 females) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Manipulation included the use of (a) monetary reward for reinforcement, (b) threat-of-shock as the stressor, and (c) a spatial working memory task with two levels of difficulty (low and high load) for cognitive load. Reward-related activation was investigated in a priori three regions of interest, the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), caudate nucleus, and putamen.

RESULTS

During anticipation, threat-of-shock or cognitive load did not affect striatal responsiveness to reward. Anticipated reward increased activation in the ventral and dorsal striatum. During feedback delivery, both threat-of-shock and cognitive effort modulated striatal activation. Higher working memory load blunted NAcc responsiveness to reward delivery, while stress strengthened caudate nucleus reactivity regardless reinforcement or load.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide initial evidence that both stress and cognitive load modulate striatal responsiveness during feedback delivery but not during anticipation in healthy adults. Of clinical importance, sustained stress exposure might go along with dysregulated arousal, increasing therefore the risk for the development of maladaptive incentive-triggered motivation. This study brings new insight that might help to build a framework to understand common stress-related disorders, given that these psychiatric disorders involve disturbances of the reward system, cognitive deficits, and abnormal stress reactivity.

Reward supports flexible orienting of attention to category information and influences subsequent memory

Preparatory control of attention facilitates the efficient processing and encoding of an expected stimulus. However, this can occur at the expense of increasing the processing cost of unexpected stimuli. Preparatory control can be influenced by motivational factors, such as the expectation of a reward. Interestingly, expectation of a high reward can increase target processing, as well as reduce the cost associated with reorienting. Using a semantic cueing paradigm, we examined the interaction of reward expectation and cue-validity on semantic judgment performance and subsequent memory. Preparatory attention was assessed with pupillometry. Valid category cueing was associated with better semantic judgment performance and better subsequent memory compared to invalidly cued items. Higher reward also resulted in a larger pre-target pupil diameter, which could be indicative of increased preparatory task engagement or arousal. Critically, higher reward also reduced reorienting cost in both semantic judgment and subsequent memory performance. Our findings suggest that reward expectation can facilitate the effective control of preparatory attention for semantic information, and can support optimal goal-directed behavior based on changing task demands.

Transient and sustained incentive effects on electrophysiological indices of cognitive control in younger and older adults

Preparing for upcoming events, separating task-relevant from task-irrelevant information and efficiently responding to stimuli all require cognitive control. The adaptive recruitment of cognitive control depends on activity in the dopaminergic reward system as well as the frontoparietal control network. In healthy aging, dopaminergic neuromodulation is reduced, resulting in altered incentive-based recruitment of control mechanisms. In the present study, younger adults (18-28 years) and healthy older adults (66-89 years) completed an incentivized flanker task that included gain, loss, and neutral trials. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded at the time of incentive cue and target presentation. We examined the contingent negative variation (CNV), implicated in stimulus anticipation and response preparation, as well as the P3, which is involved in the evaluation of visual stimuli. Both younger and older adults showed transient incentive-based modulation of CNV. Critically, cue-locked and target-locked P3s were influenced by transient and sustained effects of incentives in younger adults, while such modulation was limited to a sustained effect of gain incentives on cue-P3 in older adults. Overall, these findings are in line with an age-related reduction in the flexible recruitment of preparatory and target-related cognitive control processes in the presence of motivational incentives.

Implicit motivation improves executive functions of older adults

It is widely accepted that while controlled processes (e.g., working memory and executive functions) decline with age, implicit (automatic) processes are not affected by age. In this paper we challenge this view by arguing that high-level automatic processes (e.g., recruiting motivation) decline with age, and that this decline plays an unappreciated role in cognitive aging. Specifically, we hypothesized that due to their decline, automatic motivational processes are less likely to be spontaneously activated in old age; thus, implicit external activation of them should have stronger effects on older (vs. younger) adults. In two experiments we used different methods of implicitly activating motivation, and measured executive functions of younger and older adults using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. In both experiments, implicit modulation of motivation resulted in improved executive functioning for older adults. The framework we propose is general and offers a new look at various aspects of cognitive aging.

Potential reward reduces the adverse impact of negative distractor stimuli

Knowledge about interactions between reward and negative processing is rudimentary. Here, we employed functional MRI to probe how potential reward signaled by advance cues alters aversive distractor processing during perception. Behaviorally, the influence of aversive stimuli on task performance was reduced during the reward compared to no-reward condition. In the brain, at the task phase, paralleling the observed behavioral pattern, we observed significant interactions in the anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, such that responses during the negative (vs neutral) condition were reduced during the reward compared to no-reward condition. Notably, negative distractor processing in the amygdala appeared to be independent of the reward manipulation. During the initial cue phase, we observed increased reward-related responses in the ventral striatum/accumbens, which were correlated with behavioral interference scores at the subsequent task phase, revealing that participants with increased reward-related responses exhibited a greater behavioral benefit of reward in reducing the adverse effect of negative images. Furthermore, during processing of reward (vs no-reward) cues, the ventral striatum exhibited stronger functional connectivity with fronto-parietal regions important for attentional control. Together, our findings contribute to the understanding of how potential reward influences attentional control and reduces negative distractor processing in the human brain.

Null Effects on Working Memory and Verbal Fluency Tasks When Applying Anodal tDCS to the Inferior Frontal Gyrus of Healthy Participants

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a technique used to modify cognition by modulating underlying cortical excitability via weak electric current applied through the scalp. Although many studies have reported positive effects with tDCS, a number of recent studies highlight that tDCS effects can be small and difficult to reproduce. This is especially the case when attempting to modulate performance using single applications of tDCS in healthy participants. Possible reasons may be that optimal stimulation parameters have yet to be identified, and that individual variation in cortical activity and/or level of ability confound outcomes. To address these points, we carried out a series of experiments in which we attempted to modulate performance in fluency and working memory probe tasks using stimulation parameters which have been associated with positive outcomes: we targeted the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and compared performance when applying a 1.5 mA anodal current for 25 min and with sham stimulation. There is evidence that LIFG plays a role in these tasks and previous studies have found positive effects of stimulation. We also compared our experimental group (N = 19–20) with a control group receiving no stimulation (n = 24). More importantly, we also considered effects on subgroups subdivided according to memory span as well as to more direct measures of executive function abilities and motivational levels. We found no systematic effect of stimulation. Our findings are in line with a growing body of evidence that tDCS produces unreliable effects. We acknowledge that our findings speak to the conditions we investigated, and that alternative protocols (e.g., multiple sessions, clinical samples, and different stimulation polarities) may be more effective. We encourage further research to explore optimal conditions for tDCS efficacy, given the potential benefits that this technique poses for understanding and enhancing cognition.

Association of fronto-temporal function with cognitive ability in schizophrenia

Deficits in neuropsychological performance are common in schizophrenia, but their relationship with the fronto-temporal functional abnormalities associated with this condition remains unclear. We explored the relationship between neuropsychological performance as measured using the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) and the Social Cognition Screening Questionnaire theory of mind (ToM) subscale and fronto-temporal function in 23 patients with schizophrenia and 23 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs), using 52-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Regional hemodynamic changes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenia group than in the HCs group in the ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior part of the temporal cortex (VLPFC/aTC) and dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex and frontopolar cortex (DLPFC/FPC) regions. To dissect the effect of variance in BACS cognitive domains from the relationship between ToM function and fronto-temporal function, we performed additional partial correlation analyses between ToM and NIRS data, using BACS composite score as a control variable. The correlation between ToM and NIRS data remained significant only in the DLPFC/FPC region. This finding is important to models of recovery, as it suggests that intervention programs focusing on enhancing fronto-temporal function may have a greater impact on social and occupational outcomes than traditional rehabilitation programs focusing on neuropsychological performance.

Neural and behavioral mechanisms of proactive and reactive inhibition

Response inhibition is an important component of adaptive behavior. Substantial prior research has focused on reactive inhibition, which refers to the cessation of a motor response that is already in progress. More recently, a growing number of studies have begun to examine mechanisms underlying proactive inhibition, whereby preparatory processes result in a response being withheld before it is initiated. It has become apparent that proactive inhibition is an essential component of the overall ability to regulate behavior and has implications for the success of reactive inhibition. Moreover, successful inhibition relies on learning the meaning of specific environmental cues that signal when a behavioral response should be withheld. Proactive inhibitory control is mediated by stopping goals, which reflect the desired outcome of inhibition and include information about how and when inhibition should be implemented. However, little is known about the circuits and cellular processes that encode and represent features in the environment that indicate the necessity for proactive inhibition or how these representations are implemented in response inhibition. In this article, we will review the brain circuits and systems involved in implementing inhibitory control through both reactive and proactive mechanisms. We also comment on possible cellular mechanisms that may contribute to inhibitory control processes, noting that substantial further research is necessary in this regard. Furthermore, we will outline a number of ways in which the temporal dynamics underlying the generation of the proactive inhibitory signal may be particularly important for parsing out the neurobiological correlates that contribute to the learning processes underlying various aspects of inhibitory control.

The neurophysiological basis of reward effects on backward inhibition processes

The ability to flexibly switch between tasks is an important faculty in daily life. One process that has been suggested to be an important aspect of flexible task switching is the inhibition of a recently performed task. This is called backward inhibition. Several studies suggest that task switching performance can be enhanced by rewards. However, it is less clear in how far backward inhibition mechanisms are also affected by rewards, especially when it comes to the neuronal mechanisms underlying reward-related modulations of backward inhibition. We therefore investigated this using a system neurophysiological approach combining EEG recordings with source localization techniques. We demonstrate that rewards reduce the strength of backward inhibition processes. The neurophysiological data shows that these reward-related effects emerge from response and/or conflict monitoring processes within medial frontal cortical structures. Upstream processes of perceptual gating and attentional selection, as well as downstream processes of context updating and stimulus-response mapping are not modulated by reward, even though they also play a role in backward inhibition effects.

Gamification of Learning Deactivates the Default Mode Network

We hypothesized that embedding educational learning in a game would improve learning outcomes, with increased engagement and recruitment of cognitive resources evidenced by increased activation of working memory network (WMN) and deactivation of default mode network (DMN) regions. In an fMRI study, we compared activity during periods of learning in three conditions that were increasingly game-like: Study-only (when periods of learning were followed by an exemplar question together with its correct answer), Self-quizzing (when periods of learning were followed by a multiple choice question in return for a fixed number of points) and Game-based (when, following each period of learning, participants competed with a peer to answer the question for escalating, uncertain rewards). DMN hubs deactivated as conditions became more game-like, alongside greater self-reported engagement and, in the Game-based condition, higher learning scores. These changes did not occur with any detectable increase in WMN activity. Additionally, ventral striatal activation was associated with responding to questions and receiving positive question feedback. Results support the significance of DMN deactivation for educational learning, and are aligned with recent evidence suggesting DMN and WMN activity may not always be anti-correlated.

Motivational intensity modulates the effects of positive emotions on set shifting after controlling physiological arousal

Recent research on the construct of emotion suggests the integration of a motivational dimension into the traditional two-dimension (subjective valence and physiological arousal) model. The motivational intensity of an emotional state should be taken into account while investigating the emotion-cognition relationship. This study examined how positive emotional states varying in motivational intensity influenced set shifting, after controlling the potential confounding impacts of physiological arousal. In Experiment 1, 155 volunteers performed a set-shifting task after being randomly assigned to five states: high- vs. low-motivating positive affect (interest vs. serenity), high- vs. low-motivating negative affect (disgust vs. anxiety), and neutral state. Eighty-five volunteers participated in Experiment 2, which further examined the effects of higher vs. lower degree of interest. Both experiments measured and compared participants' physiological arousal (blood pressure and pulse rate) under the normal and experimental conditions as the covariate. Results showed no difference in switching performance between the neutral and serenity groups. As compared with the neutral state, the high-motivating positive affect significantly increased set-switching reaction time costs, but reduced error rate costs; the higher the motivational intensity, the greater the time-costs impairment. This indicates a role of the high-motivating positive affect in regulating the balance between the flexible and stable cognitive control. Motivational intensity also modulated the effects of negative emotional states, i.e., disgust caused a larger increase in time costs than anxiety. Further exploration into neurobiological mechanisms that may mediate the emotional effects on set shifting is warranted.

Some See It, Some Don't: Exploring the Relation between Inattentional Blindness and Personality Factors

Human awareness is highly limited, which is vividly demonstrated by the phenomenon that unexpected objects go unnoticed when attention is focused elsewhere (inattentional blindness). Typically, some people fail to notice unexpected objects while others detect them instantaneously. Whether this pattern reflects stable individual differences is unclear to date. In particular, hardly anything is known about the influence of personality on the likelihood of inattentional blindness. To fill this empirical gap, we examined the role of multiple personality factors, namely the Big Five, BIS/BAS, absorption, achievement motivation, and schizotypy, in these failures of awareness. In a large-scale sample (N = 554), susceptibility to inattentional blindness was associated with a low level of openness to experience and marginally with a low level of achievement motivation. However, in a multiple regression analysis, only openness emerged as an independent, negative predictor. This suggests that the general tendency to be open to experience extends to the domain of perception. Our results complement earlier work on the possible link between inattentional blindness and personality by demonstrating, for the first time, that failures to consciously perceive unexpected objects reflect individual differences on a fundamental dimension of personality.

Counteracting effect of threat on reward enhancements during working memory

Cognitive performance has been shown to be enhanced when performance-based rewards are at stake. On the other hand, task-irrelevant threat processing has been shown to have detrimental effects during several cognitive tasks. Crucially, the impact of reward and threat on cognition has been studied largely independently of one another. Hence, our understanding of how reward and threat simultaneously contribute to performance is incomplete. To fill in this gap, the present study investigated how reward and threat interact with one another during a cognitive task. We found that threat of shock counteracted the beneficial effect of reward during a working memory task. Furthermore, individual differences in self-reported reward-sensitivity and anxiety were linked to the extent to which reward and threat interacted during behaviour. Together, the current findings contribute to a limited but growing literature unravelling how positive and negative information processing jointly influence cognition.

Motivation and cognitive control: from behavior to neural mechanism

Research on cognitive control and executive function has long recognized the relevance of motivational factors. Recently, however, the topic has come increasingly to center stage, with a surge of new studies examining the interface of motivation and cognitive control. In the present article we survey research situated at this interface, considering work from cognitive and social psychology and behavioral economics, but with a particular focus on neuroscience research. We organize existing findings into three core areas, considering them in the light of currently vying theoretical perspectives. Based on the accumulated evidence, we advocate for a view of control function that treats it as a domain of reward-based decision making. More broadly, we argue that neuroscientific evidence plays a critical role in understanding the mechanisms by which motivation and cognitive control interact. Opportunities for further cross-fertilization between behavioral and neuroscientific research are highlighted.

How important is importance for prospective memory? A review

Forgetting to carry out an intention as planned can have serious consequences in everyday life. People sometimes even forget intentions that they consider as very important. Here, we review the literature on the impact of importance on prospective memory performance. We highlight different methods used to manipulate the importance of a prospective memory task such as providing rewards, importance relative to other ongoing activities, absolute importance, and providing social motives. Moreover, we address the relationship between importance and other factors known to affect prospective memory and ongoing task performance such as type of prospective memory task (time-, event-, or activity-based), cognitive loads, and processing overlaps. Finally, we provide a connection to motivation, we summarize the effects of task importance and we identify important venues for future research.

Bad and worse: neural systems underlying reappraisal of high- and low-intensity negative emotions

One of the most effective strategies for regulating emotional responses is cognitive reappraisal. While prior work has made great strides in characterizing reappraisal's neural mechanisms and behavioral outcomes, the key issue of how regulation varies as a function of emotional intensity remains unaddressed. We compared the behavioral and neural correlates of reappraisal of high- and low-intensity emotional responses using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We found that successful reappraisal of both high- and low-intensity emotions depends upon recruitment of dorsomedial (dmPFC) as well as left dorsolateral (dlPFC) and ventrolateral (vlPFC) prefrontal cortex. However, reappraisal of high-intensity emotions more strongly activated left dlPFC, and in addition, activated right lateral and dorsomedial PFC regions not recruited by low-intensity reappraisal. No brain regions were more strongly recruited during reappraisal of low when compared with high-intensity emotions. Taken together, these results suggest that reappraisal of high-intensity emotion requires greater cognitive resources as evidenced by quantitative and qualitative differences in prefrontal recruitment. These data have implications for understanding how and when specific PFC systems are needed to regulate different types of emotional responses.

Motivational and cognitive determinants of control during conflict processing

Previous studies suggest that both reward anticipation and expected or experienced conflicts activate cognitive control. The present study investigated how these factors interact during conflict processing. In two experiments, participants performed a variant of the Stroop task, receiving performance-dependent monetary rewards in some blocks. In addition, we manipulated the level of conflict-triggered reactive and expectancy-driven proactive control: In Experiment 1, we compared the Stroop effect after previously congruent and incongruent trials to examine the conflict adaptation effect (reactive control). We found that the level of motivation did not interact with conflict adaptation. In Experiment 2, we varied the proportion of congruent and incongruent trials to manipulate conflict expectancy (proactive control). The data suggest the effects of motivation to be less pronounced under conditions of high conflict expectancy. We conclude that the interaction of motivation with cognitive determinants of control depends on whether these activate proactive or reactive control processes.

Relationship between prefrontal function during a cognitive task and social functioning in male Japanese workers: a multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy study

To investigate whether prefrontal function during a cognitive task reflects the social functioning of male Japanese workers, prefrontal function during a working memory task in 181 male workers was measured by multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Social functioning was assessed using the Social Adaptation Self-Evaluation Scale (SASS). The results indicated that cortical oxygenation level increases in dorsolateral prefrontal region showed significant positive correlations with the interest and motivation factor scores on the SASS. These results suggest that dorsolateral prefrontal function is associated with the interest and motivation factor in social functioning in male workers and that NIRS could be an addition to the medical tools for monitoring these characteristics on mental health examination.

Emotion and attention interaction: a trade-off between stimuli relevance, motivation and individual differences

Mounting evidence suggests that the neural processing of emotional stimuli is prioritized. However, whether the processing of emotional stimuli is dependent on attention remains debatable. Several studies have investigated this issue by testing the capacity of emotional distracters to divert processing resources from an attentional main task. The attentional load theory postulates that the perceptual load of the main task determines the selective processing of the distracter. Although we agree with this theory, we also suggest that other factors could be important in determining the association between the load of the main task and distracter processing, namely, (1) the relevance of the to-be ignored stimuli and (2) the engagement in the main task due to motivation. We postulate that these factors function as opposite forces to influence distracter processing. In addition, we propose that this trade-off is modulated by individual differences. In summary, we suggest that the relationship between emotion and attention is flexible rather than rigid and depends on several factors. Considering this perspective may help us to understand the divergence in the results described by several studies in this field.

Interactions between reward and threat during visual processing

Appetitive stimuli such as monetary incentives often improve performance whereas aversive stimuli such as task-irrelevant negative stimuli frequently impair performance. But our understanding of how appetitive and aversive processes simultaneously contribute to brain and behavior is rudimentary. In the current fMRI study, we investigated interactions between reward and threat by investigating the effects of monetary reward on the processing of task-irrelevant threat stimuli during a visual discrimination task. Reward was manipulated by linking fast and accurate responses to foreground stimuli with monetary reward; threat was manipulated by pairing the background context with mild aversive shock. The behavioral results in terms of both accuracy and reaction time revealed that monetary reward eliminated the influence of threat-related stimuli. Paralleling the behavioral results, during trials involving both reward and threat, the imaging data revealed increased engagement of the ventral caudate and anterior mid-cingulate cortex, which were accompanied by increased task-relevant processing in the visual cortex. Overall, our study illustrates how the simultaneous processing of appetitive and aversive information shapes both behavior and brain responses.

Relationships among cognition, emotion, and motivation: implications for intervention and neuroplasticity in psychopathology

Emotion-cognition and motivation-cognition relationships and related brain mechanisms are receiving increasing attention in the clinical research literature as a means of understanding diverse types of psychopathology and improving biological and psychological treatments. This paper reviews and integrates some of the growing evidence for cognitive biases and deficits in depression and anxiety, how these disruptions interact with emotional and motivational processes, and what brain mechanisms appear to be involved. This integration sets the stage for understanding the role of neuroplasticity in implementing change in cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes in psychopathology as a function of intervention.

Local and global effects of motivation on cognitive control

Motivation has been found to enhance cognitive control, but the mechanisms by which this occurs are still poorly understood. Cued motivational incentives (e.g., monetary rewards) can modulate cognitive processing locally-that is, on a trial-by-trial basis (incentive cue effect). Recently, motivational incentives have also been found to produce more global and tonic changes in performance, as evidenced by performance benefits on nonincentive trials occurring within incentive blocks (incentive context effect). In two experiments involving incentivized cued task switching, we provide systematic evidence that the two effects are dissociable. Through behavioral, diffusion-modeling, and individual-differences analyses, we found dissociations between local and global motivational effects that were linked to specific properties of the incentive signals (i.e., timing), while also ruling out alternative interpretations (e.g., practice and speed-accuracy trade-off effects). These results provide important clues regarding the neural mechanisms by which motivation exerts both global and local influences on cognitive control.

Temporal dynamics of motivation-cognitive control interactions revealed by high-resolution pupillometry

Motivational manipulations, such as the presence of performance-contingent reward incentives, can have substantial influences on cognitive control. Previous evidence suggests that reward incentives may enhance cognitive performance specifically through increased preparatory, or proactive, control processes. The present study examined reward influences on cognitive control dynamics in the AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT), using high-resolution pupillometry. In the AX-CPT, contextual cues must be actively maintained over a delay in order to appropriately respond to ambiguous target probes. A key feature of the task is that it permits dissociable characterization of preparatory, proactive control processes (i.e., utilization of context) and reactive control processes (i.e., target-evoked interference resolution). Task performance profiles suggested that reward incentives enhanced proactive control (context utilization). Critically, pupil dilation was also increased on reward incentive trials during context maintenance periods, suggesting trial-specific shifts in proactive control, particularly when context cues indicated the need to overcome the dominant target response bias. Reward incentives had both transient (i.e., trial-by-trial) and sustained (i.e., block-based) effects on pupil dilation, which may reflect distinct underlying processes. The transient pupillary effects were present even when comparing against trials matched in task performance, suggesting a unique motivational influence of reward incentives. These results suggest that pupillometry may be a useful technique for investigating reward motivational signals and their dynamic influence on cognitive control.

Interactions between affective and cognitive processing systems in problematic gamblers: a functional connectivity study

BACKGROUND

Motivational and cognitive abnormalities are frequently reported in pathological gambling. However, studies simultaneously investigating motivational and cognitive processing in problematic gamblers are lacking, limiting our understanding of the interplay between these systems in problematic gambling. Studies in non-clinical samples indicate that interactions between dorsal "executive" and ventral "affective" processing systems are necessary for adequate responses in various emotive situations.

METHODS

We conducted a generalized Psycho-Physiological Interaction (gPPI) analysis to assess the influence of affective stimuli on changes in functional connectivity associated with response inhibition in 16 treatment seeking problematic gamblers (PRGs) and 15 healthy controls (HCs) using an affective Go-NoGo fMRI paradigm including neutral, gambling-related, positive and negative pictures as neutral and affective conditions.

RESULTS

Across groups, task performance accuracy during neutral inhibition trials was positively correlated with functional connectivity between the left caudate and the right middle frontal cortex. During inhibition in the gambling condition, only in PRGs accuracy of task performance was positively correlated with functional connectivity within sub-regions of the dorsal executive system. Group interactions showed that during neutral inhibition, HCs exhibited greater functional connectivity between the left caudate and occipital cortex than PRGs. In contrast, during inhibition in the positive condition, PRGs compared to HCs showed greater functional connectivity between the left caudate and occipital cortex. During inhibition trials in the negative condition, a stronger functional connectivity between the left caudate and the right anterior cingulate cortex in PRGs compared to HCs was present. There were no group interactions during inhibition in the gambling condition.

CONCLUSIONS

During gamble inhibition PRGs seem to benefit more from functional connectivity within the dorsal executive system than HCs, because task accuracy in this condition in PRGs is positively correlated with functional connectivity, although the groups show similar connectivity patterns during gamble inhibition. Greater functional connectivity between the ventral affective system and the dorsal executive system in PRGs in the affective conditions compared to HCs, suggests facilitation of the dorsal executive system when affective stimuli are present specifically in PRGs.

Effects of Monetary Incentives on Task Switching

In two experiments, effects of incentives on task switching were investigated. Incentives were provided as a monetary bonus. In both experiments, the availability of a bonus varied on a trial-to-trial basis. The main difference between the experiments relates to the association of incentives to individual tasks. In Experiment 1, the association of incentives to individual tasks was fixed. Under these conditions, the effect of incentives was largely due to reward expectancy. Switch costs were reduced to statistical insignificance. This was true even with the task that was not associated with a bonus. In Experiment 2, there was a variable association of incentives to individual tasks. Under these conditions, the reward expectancy effect was bound to conditions with a well-established bonus-task association. In conditions in which the bonus-task association was not established in advance, enhanced performance of the bonus task was accompanied by performance decrements with the task that was not associated with a bonus. Reward expectancy affected mainly the general level of performance. The outcome of this study may also inform recently suggested neurobiological accounts about the temporal dynamics of reward processing.

The variable nature of cognitive control: a dual mechanisms framework

A core component of cognitive control - the ability to regulate thoughts and actions in accordance with internally represented behavioral goals - might be its intrinsic variability. In this article, I describe the dual mechanisms of control (DMC) framework, which postulates that this variability might arise from qualitative distinctions in temporal dynamics between proactive and reactive modes of control. Proactive control reflects the sustained and anticipatory maintenance of goal-relevant information within lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) to enable optimal cognitive performance, whereas reactive control reflects transient stimulus-driven goal reactivation that recruits lateral PFC (plus a wider brain network) based on interference demands or episodic associations. I summarize recent research that demonstrates how the DMC framework provides a coherent explanation of three sources of cognitive control variation - intra-individual, inter-individual and between-groups - in terms of proactive versus reactive control biases.