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Bells S, Isabella SL, Brien DC, Coe BC, Munoz DP, Mabbott DJ, Cheyne DO. Mapping neural dynamics underlying saccade preparation and execution and their relation to reaction time and direction errors. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 41:1934-1949. [PMID: 31916374 PMCID: PMC7268073 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Our ability to control and inhibit automatic behaviors is crucial for negotiating complex environments, all of which require rapid communication between sensory, motor, and cognitive networks. Here, we measured neuromagnetic brain activity to investigate the neural timing of cortical areas needed for inhibitory control, while 14 healthy young adults performed an interleaved prosaccade (look at a peripheral visual stimulus) and antisaccade (look away from stimulus) task. Analysis of how neural activity relates to saccade reaction time (SRT) and occurrence of direction errors (look at stimulus on antisaccade trials) provides insight into inhibitory control. Neuromagnetic source activity was used to extract stimulus‐aligned and saccade‐aligned activity to examine temporal differences between prosaccade and antisaccade trials in brain regions associated with saccade control. For stimulus‐aligned antisaccade trials, a longer SRT was associated with delayed onset of neural activity within the ipsilateral parietal eye field (PEF) and bilateral frontal eye field (FEF). Saccade‐aligned activity demonstrated peak activation 10ms before saccade‐onset within the contralateral PEF for prosaccade trials and within the bilateral FEF for antisaccade trials. In addition, failure to inhibit prosaccades on anti‐saccade trials was associated with increased activity prior to saccade onset within the FEF contralateral to the peripheral stimulus. This work on dynamic activity adds to our knowledge that direction errors were due, at least in part, to a failure to inhibit automatic prosaccades. These findings provide novel evidence in humans regarding the temporal dynamics within oculomotor areas needed for saccade programming and the role frontal brain regions have on top‐down inhibitory control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonya Bells
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Silvia L Isabella
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute of Medical Sciences, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Donald C Brien
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brian C Coe
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Douglas P Munoz
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Donald J Mabbott
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Douglas O Cheyne
- Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute of Medical Sciences, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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2
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Aponte EA, Stephan KE, Heinzle J. Switch costs in inhibitory control and voluntary behaviour: A computational study of the antisaccade task. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 50:3205-3220. [PMID: 31081574 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2018] [Revised: 03/25/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
An integral aspect of human cognition is the ability to inhibit stimulus-driven, habitual responses, in favour of complex, voluntary actions. In addition, humans can also alternate between different tasks. This comes at the cost of degraded performance when compared to repeating the same task, a phenomenon called the "task-switch cost." While task switching and inhibitory control have been studied extensively, the interaction between them has received relatively little attention. Here, we used the SERIA model, a computational model of antisaccade behaviour, to draw a bridge between them. We investigated task switching in two versions of the mixed antisaccade task, in which participants are cued to saccade either in the same or in the opposite direction to a peripheral stimulus. SERIA revealed that stopping a habitual action leads to increased inhibitory control that persists onto the next trial, independently of the upcoming trial type. Moreover, switching between tasks induces slower and less accurate voluntary responses compared to repeat trials. However, this only occurs when participants lack the time to prepare the correct response. Altogether, SERIA demonstrates that there is a reconfiguration cost associated with switching between voluntary actions. In addition, the enhanced inhibition that follows antisaccade but not prosaccade trials explains asymmetric switch costs. In conclusion, SERIA offers a novel model of task switching that unifies previous theoretical accounts by distinguishing between inhibitory control and voluntary action generation and could help explain similar phenomena in paradigms beyond the antisaccade task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo A Aponte
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Klaas E Stephan
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK.,Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany
| | - Jakob Heinzle
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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3
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Pierce JE, McDowell JE. Contextual effects on cognitive control and BOLD activation in single versus mixed saccade tasks. Brain Cogn 2017; 115:12-20. [PMID: 28371646 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2017.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2016] [Revised: 03/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/14/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The context or trial history of a task influences response efficiency in mixed paradigms based on cognitive control demands for task set selection. In the current study, the impact of context on prosaccade and antisaccade trials in single and mixed tasks was investigated with BOLD fMRI. Prosaccades require a look towards a newly appearing target, while antisaccades require cognitive control for prepotent response inhibition and generation of a saccade to the opposite location. Results indicated slower prosaccade reaction times and more antisaccade errors for switched than repeated or single trials, and slower antisaccade reaction times for single than mixed trials. BOLD activation was greater for the mixed than the single context in frontal eye fields and precuneus, while switch trials had greater activation than repeat trials in posterior parietal and middle occipital cortex. Greater antisaccade activation was observed overall in saccade circuitry, although effects were evident primarily for the mixed task when considered separately. Finally, an interaction was observed in superior frontal cortex, precuneus, anterior cingulate, and thalamus with strong responses for antisaccade switch trials in the latter two regions. Altogether this response pattern demonstrated the sensitivity of cognitive control to changing task conditions, especially due to task switching costs. Such context-specific differences highlight the importance of trial history when assessing cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan E Pierce
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
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4
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Hwang K, Ghuman AS, Manoach DS, Jones SR, Luna B. Frontal preparatory neural oscillations associated with cognitive control: A developmental study comparing young adults and adolescents. Neuroimage 2016; 136:139-48. [PMID: 27173759 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2015] [Revised: 03/24/2016] [Accepted: 05/05/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest that age-related changes in the frontal cortex may underlie developmental improvements in cognitive control. In the present study we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify frontal oscillatory neurodynamics that support age-related improvements in cognitive control during adolescence. We characterized the differences in neural oscillations in adolescents and adults during the preparation to suppress a prepotent saccade (antisaccade trials-AS) compared to preparing to generate a more automatic saccade (prosaccade trials-PS). We found that for adults, AS were associated with increased beta-band (16-38Hz) power in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), enhanced alpha- to low beta-band (10-18Hz) power in the frontal eye field (FEF) that predicted performance, and increased cross-frequency alpha-beta (10-26Hz) amplitude coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF. Developmental comparisons between adults and adolescents revealed similar engagement of DLPFC beta-band power but weaker FEF alpha-band power, and lower cross-frequency coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF in adolescents. These results suggest that lateral prefrontal neural activity associated with cognitive control is adult-like by adolescence; the development of cognitive control from adolescence to adulthood is instead associated with increases in frontal connectivity and strengthening of inhibition signaling for suppressing task-incompatible processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Hwang
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
| | - Avniel S Ghuman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Dara S Manoach
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Stephanie R Jones
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Beatriz Luna
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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5
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Genovesio A, Ferraina S. The influence of recent decisions on future goal selection. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2015; 369:rstb.2013.0477. [PMID: 25267819 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent decisions about actions and goals can have effects on future choices. Several studies have shown an effect of the previous trial history on neural activity in a subsequent trial. Often, but not always, these effects originate from task requirements that make it necessary to maintain access to previous trial information to make future decisions. Maintaining the information about recent decisions and their outcomes can play an important role in both adapting to new contingencies and learning. Previous goal decisions must be distinguished from goals that are currently being planned to avoid perseveration or more general errors. Output monitoring is probably based on this separation of accomplished past goals from pending future goals that are being pursued. Behaviourally, it has been shown that the history context can influence the location, error rate and latency of successive responses. We will review the neurophysiological studies in the literature, including data from our laboratory, which support a role for the frontal lobe in tracking previous goal selections and outputs when new goals need to be accomplished.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aldo Genovesio
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Stefano Ferraina
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University, Rome 00185, Italy
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6
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Kozunov VV, Ossadtchi A. GALA: group analysis leads to accuracy, a novel approach for solving the inverse problem in exploratory analysis of group MEG recordings. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:107. [PMID: 25954141 PMCID: PMC4404950 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2015] [Accepted: 03/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Although MEG/EEG signals are highly variable between subjects, they allow characterizing systematic changes of cortical activity in both space and time. Traditionally a two-step procedure is used. The first step is a transition from sensor to source space by the means of solving an ill-posed inverse problem for each subject individually. The second is mapping of cortical regions consistently active across subjects. In practice the first step often leads to a set of active cortical regions whose location and timecourses display a great amount of interindividual variability hindering the subsequent group analysis. We propose Group Analysis Leads to Accuracy (GALA)-a solution that combines the two steps into one. GALA takes advantage of individual variations of cortical geometry and sensor locations. It exploits the ensuing variability in electromagnetic forward model as a source of additional information. We assume that for different subjects functionally identical cortical regions are located in close proximity and partially overlap and their timecourses are correlated. This relaxed similarity constraint on the inverse solution can be expressed within a probabilistic framework, allowing for an iterative algorithm solving the inverse problem jointly for all subjects. A systematic simulation study showed that GALA, as compared with the standard min-norm approach, improves accuracy of true activity recovery, when accuracy is assessed both in terms of spatial proximity of the estimated and true activations and correct specification of spatial extent of the activated regions. This improvement obtained without using any noise normalization techniques for both solutions, preserved for a wide range of between-subject variations in both spatial and temporal features of regional activation. The corresponding activation timecourses exhibit significantly higher similarity across subjects. Similar results were obtained for a real MEG dataset of face-specific evoked responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir V Kozunov
- MEG Centre, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexei Ossadtchi
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics Moscow, Russia ; Laboratory of Control of Complex Systems, Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering Russian Academy of Sciences St. Petersburg, Russia
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7
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Pierce JE, McCardel JB, McDowell JE. Trial-type probability and task-switching effects on behavioral response characteristics in a mixed saccade task. Exp Brain Res 2014; 233:959-69. [PMID: 25537465 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-014-4170-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 11/29/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Eye movement circuitry involved in saccade production offers a model for studying cognitive control: visually guided prosaccades are stimulus-directed responses, while goal-driven antisaccades rely upon more complex control processes to inhibit the prepotent tendency to look toward a cue, transform its spatial location, and generate a volitional saccade in the opposite direction. By manipulating the relative probability of these saccade types, we measured participants' behavioral responses to different levels of implicit trial-type probability and task-switching demands in conditions with relatively long inter-trial fixation and trial-type cue lengths. Results indicated that when prosaccades were less probable in a run, more prosaccade errors were generated; however, for antisaccades, trial-type probability had no effect on the percent of correct responses. For reaction times, specifically in runs with a larger probability of antisaccade trials, latencies increased for both anti- and pro-saccades. Furthermore, task switching resulted in a lower percentage of correct responses on switched trials, but a prior antisaccade trial led to slower reaction times for both trial types (i.e., a task switch cost for prosaccades and switch benefit for antisaccades). These findings indicate that cognitive control demands and residual inhibition from antisaccades alter performance relative to trial-type probability and task switching within a run, with the prosaccade task showing greater susceptibility to the influence of a large probability of cognitively complex antisaccades.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan E Pierce
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin Street, Athens, GA, 30602, USA,
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8
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Abstract
The ability to inhibit prepotent responses is critical for successful goal-directed behaviors. To investigate the neural basis of inhibitory control, we conducted a magnetoencephalography study where human participants performed the antisaccade task. Results indicated that neural oscillations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) showed significant task modulations in preparation to suppress saccades. Before successfully inhibiting a saccade, beta-band power (18-38 Hz) in the lateral PFC and alpha-band power (10-18 Hz) in the frontal eye field (FEF) increased. Trial-by-trial prestimulus FEF alpha-band power predicted successful saccadic inhibition. Further, inhibitory control enhanced cross-frequency amplitude coupling between PFC beta-band (18-38 Hz) activity and FEF alpha-band activity, and the coupling appeared to be initiated by the PFC. Our results suggest a generalized mechanism for top-down inhibitory control: prefrontal beta-band activity initiates alpha-band activity for functional inhibition of the effector and/or sensory system.
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9
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Hultén A, Karvonen L, Laine M, Salmelin R. Producing Speech with a Newly Learned Morphosyntax and Vocabulary: An Magnetoencephalography Study. J Cogn Neurosci 2014; 26:1721-35. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Ten participants learned a miniature language (Anigram), which they later employed to verbally describe a pictured event. Using magnetoencephalography, the cortical dynamics of sentence production in Anigram was compared with that in the native tongue from the preparation phase up to the production of the final word. At the preparation phase, a cartoon image with two animals prompted the participants to plan either the corresponding simple sentence (e.g., “the bear hits the lion”) or a grammar-free list of the two nouns (“the bear, the lion”). For the newly learned language, this stage induced stronger left angular and adjacent inferior parietal activations than for the native language, likely reflecting a higher load on lexical retrieval and STM storage. The preparation phase was followed by a cloze task where the participants were prompted to produce the last word of the sentence or word sequence. Production of the sentence-final word required retrieval of rule-based inflectional morphology and was accompanied by increased activation of the left middle superior temporal cortex that did not differ between the two languages. Activation of the right temporal cortex during the cloze task suggested that this area plays a role in integrating word meanings into the sentence frame. The present results indicate that, after just a few days of exposure, the newly learned language harnesses the neural resources for multiword production much the same way as the native tongue and that the left and right temporal cortices seem to have functionally different roles in this processing.
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10
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Alvarez TL, Jaswal R, Gohel S, Biswal BB. Functional activity within the frontal eye fields, posterior parietal cortex, and cerebellar vermis significantly correlates to symmetrical vergence peak velocity: an ROI-based, fMRI study of vergence training. Front Integr Neurosci 2014; 8:50. [PMID: 24987340 PMCID: PMC4060559 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2014.00050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2014] [Accepted: 05/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Convergence insufficiency (CI) is a prevalent binocular vision disorder with symptoms that include double/blurred vision, eyestrain, and headaches when engaged in reading or other near work. Randomized clinical trials support that Office-Based Vergence and Accommodative Therapy with home reinforcement leads to a sustained reduction in patient symptoms. However, the underlying neurophysiological basis for treatment is unknown. Functional activity and vergence eye movements were quantified from seven binocularly normal controls (BNC) and four CI patients before and after 18 h of vergence training. An fMRI conventional block design of sustained fixation vs. vergence eye movements stimulated activity in the frontal eye fields (FEF), the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and the cerebellar vermis (CV). Comparing the CI patients' baseline measurements to the post-vergence training data sets with a paired t-test revealed the following: (1) the percent change in the BOLD signal in the FEF, PPC, and CV significantly increased (p < 0.02), (2) the peak velocity from 4° symmetrical convergence step responses increased (p < 0.01) and (3) patient symptoms assessed using the CI Symptom Survey (CISS) improved (p < 0.05). CI patient measurements after vergence training were more similar to levels observed within BNC. A regression analysis revealed the peak velocity from BNC and CI subjects before and after vergence training was significantly correlated to the percent BOLD signal change within the FEF, PPC, and CV (r = 0.6; p < 0.05). Results have clinical implications for understanding the behavioral and neurophysiological changes after vergence training in patients with CI, which may lead to the sustained reduction in visual symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara L Alvarez
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Raj Jaswal
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Suril Gohel
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Bharat B Biswal
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ, USA
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11
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Effects of acute alcohol intoxication on saccadic conflict and error processing. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2013; 230:487-97. [PMID: 23812762 PMCID: PMC3869380 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-013-3173-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2012] [Accepted: 06/04/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Flexible behavior optimization relies on cognitive control which includes the ability to suppress automatic responses interfering with relevant goals. Extensive evidence suggests that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the central node in a predominantly frontal cortical network subserving executive tasks. Neuroimaging studies indicate that the ACC is sensitive to acute intoxication during conflict, but such evidence is limited to tasks using manual responses with arbitrary response contingencies. OBJECTIVES The present study was designed to examine whether alcohol's effects on top-down cognitive control would generalize to the oculomotor system during inhibition of hardwired saccadic responses. METHODS Healthy social drinkers (N = 22) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning and eye movement tracking during alcohol (0.6 g/kg ethanol for men, 0.55 g/kg for women) and placebo conditions in a counterbalanced design. They performed visually guided prosaccades (PS) towards a target and volitional antisaccades (AS) away from it. To mitigate possible vasoactive effects of alcohol on the BOLD (blood oxygenation level-dependent) signal, resting perfusion was quantified with arterial spin labeling (ASL) and used as a covariate in the BOLD analysis. RESULTS Saccadic conflict was subserved by a distributed frontoparietal network. However, alcohol intoxication selectively attenuated activity only in the ACC to volitional AS and erroneous responses. CONCLUSIONS This study provides converging evidence for the selective ACC vulnerability to alcohol intoxication during conflict across different response modalities and executive tasks, confirming its supramodal, high-level role in cognitive control. Alcohol intoxication may impair top-down regulative functions by attenuating the ACC activity, resulting in behavioral disinhibition and decreased self-control.
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12
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Manoach DS, Lee AKC, Hämäläinen MS, Dyckman KA, Friedman J, Vangel M, Goff DC, Barton JJ. Anomalous use of context during task preparation in schizophrenia: a magnetoencephalography study. Biol Psychiatry 2013; 73:967-75. [PMID: 23380717 PMCID: PMC3641151 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.12.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2011] [Revised: 12/21/2012] [Accepted: 12/22/2012] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Impaired ability to use contextual information to optimally prepare for tasks contributes to performance deficits in schizophrenia. We used magnetoencephalography and an antisaccade task to investigate the neural basis of this deficit. METHODS In schizophrenia patients and healthy control participants, we examined the difference in preparatory activation to cues indicating an impending antisaccade or prosaccade. We analyzed activation for correct trials only and focused on the network for volitional ocular motor control-frontal eye field (FEF), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and the ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC, DLPFC). RESULTS Compared with control subjects, patients made more antisaccade errors and showed reduced differential preparatory activation in the dACC and increased differential preparatory activation in the VLPFC. In patients only, antisaccade error rates correlated with preparatory activation in the FEF, DLPFC, and VLPFC. CONCLUSIONS In schizophrenia, reduced differential preparatory activation of the dACC may reflect reduced signaling of the need for control. Greater preparatory activation in the VLPFC and the correlations of error rate with FEF, DLPFC, and VLPFC activation may reflect that patients who are more error prone require stronger activation in these regions for correct performance. These findings provide the first evidence of abnormal task preparation, distinct from response generation, during volitional saccades in schizophrenia. We conclude that schizophrenia patients are impaired in using task cues to modulate cognitive control and that this contributes to deficits inhibiting prepotent but contextually inappropriate responses and to behavior that is stimulus bound and error prone rather than flexibly guided by context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dara S. Manoach
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Adrian K. C. Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA,Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988
| | - Matti S. Hämäläinen
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Kara A. Dyckman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Jesse Friedman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Mark Vangel
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Donald C. Goff
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Jason J.S. Barton
- Departments of Neurology, Ophthalmology, and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
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13
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Lukos JR, Choi JY, Santello M. Grasping uncertainty: effects of sensorimotor memories on high-level planning of dexterous manipulation. J Neurophysiol 2013; 109:2937-46. [PMID: 23554435 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00060.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
For successful object manipulation, the central nervous system must appropriately coordinate digit placement and force distribution. It is known that digit force planning is significantly influenced by previous manipulations even when object properties cannot be predicted on a trial-to-trial basis. We sought to determine whether this effect extends beyond force control to the coordination of digit placement and force. Subjects grasped and lifted an object whose center of mass (CM) was changed unpredictably across trials. Grasp planning was quantified by measuring the torque generated on the object at lift onset. We found that both digit placement and force were systematically affected by the CM experienced on the previous trial. Additionally, the negative covariation between digit forces and positions typically found for predictable CM presentations was also found for unpredictable CM trials. A follow-up experiment revealed that these effects were not dependent on visual feedback of object roll during object lift on the previous trial. We conclude that somatosensory feedback from previous grasp experience alone can affect high-level grasp planning by constraining the relation between digit force and position even when the task behavioral consequences cannot be reliably predicted. As learning of manipulations often involves interactions with objects in novel environments, the present findings are an important step to understanding the control strategies associated with the integration of sensorimotor memories and motor planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie R Lukos
- School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State Univ, Tempe, AZ 85287-9709, USA
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14
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Kenet T, Orekhova EV, Bharadwaj H, Shetty NR, Israeli E, Lee AKC, Agam Y, Elam M, Joseph RM, Hämäläinen MS, Manoach DS. Disconnectivity of the cortical ocular motor control network in autism spectrum disorders. Neuroimage 2012; 61:1226-34. [PMID: 22433660 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2012] [Accepted: 03/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Response inhibition, or the suppression of prepotent but contextually inappropriate behaviors, is essential to adaptive, flexible responding. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) consistently show deficient response inhibition during antisaccades. In our prior functional MRI study, impaired antisaccade performance was accompanied by reduced functional connectivity between the frontal eye field (FEF) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), regions critical to volitional ocular motor control. Here we employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine the spectral characteristics of this reduced connectivity. We focused on coherence between FEF and dACC during the preparatory period of antisaccade and prosaccade trials, which occurs after the presentation of the task cue and before the imperative stimulus. We found significant group differences in alpha band mediated coherence. Specifically, neurotypical participants showed significant alpha band coherence between the right inferior FEF and right dACC and between the left superior FEF and bilateral dACC across antisaccade, prosaccade, and fixation conditions. Relative to the neurotypical group, ASD participants showed reduced coherence between these regions in all three conditions. Moreover, while neurotypical participants showed increased coherence between the right inferior FEF and the right dACC in preparation for an antisaccade compared to a prosaccade or fixation, ASD participants failed to show a similar increase in preparation for the more demanding antisaccade. These findings demonstrate reduced long-range functional connectivity in ASD, specifically in the alpha band. The failure in the ASD group to increase alpha band coherence with increasing task demand may reflect deficient top-down recruitment of additional neural resources in preparation to perform a difficult task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tal Kenet
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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Weiler J, Heath M. The prior-antisaccade effect influences the planning and online control of prosaccades. Exp Brain Res 2011; 216:545-52. [PMID: 22120158 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-011-2958-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2011] [Accepted: 11/14/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The latency of a prosaccade is increased when completed following an antisaccade (the prior-antisaccade effect). This finding has been attributed to the inhibition of the oculomotor networks necessary for an antisaccade engendering a persistent response set that delays a to-be-executed prosaccade. The goal of the present investigation was to determine whether the prior-antisaccade effect influences not only the planning but also the control of an unfolding prosaccade trajectory. To accomplish that objective, we employed a task-switching paradigm wherein participants alternated between pro- and antisaccades on every second trial (i.e., AABB paradigm). Importantly, trajectory control was evaluated by computing the proportion of variance (R2 values) explained by the spatial position of the eye at decile increments of movement time relative to the response's ultimate movement endpoint: small R2 values indicate a response that unfolds with error-reducing trajectory amendments (i.e., online control), whereas larger R2 values reflect a response that unfolds with few-if any-online corrections. As expected, results showed a prior-antisaccade effect for response planning; that is, prosaccade latencies were increased when completed after an antisaccade. Moreover, prosaccades completed after an antisaccade elicited larger R2 values and less accurate endpoints than trials wherein a prosaccade was completed after another prosaccade. These results provide first evidence of a prior-antisaccade effect for trajectory control and indicate that the persistent and inhibitory response set arising from an antisaccade diminishes the online corrections, and thus endpoint accuracy, of a subsequent prosaccade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey Weiler
- School of Kinesiology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
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Dyckman KA, Lee AKC, Agam Y, Vangel M, Goff DC, Barton JJ, Manoach DS. Abnormally persistent fMRI activation during antisaccades in schizophrenia: a neural correlate of perseveration? Schizophr Res 2011; 132:62-8. [PMID: 21831602 PMCID: PMC3172368 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2011.07.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2011] [Revised: 07/15/2011] [Accepted: 07/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Impaired antisaccade performance is a consistent cognitive finding in schizophrenia. Antisaccades require both response inhibition and volitional motor programming, functions that are essential to flexible responding. We investigated whether abnormal timing of hemodynamic responses (HDRs) to antisaccades might contribute to perseveration of ocular motor responses in schizophrenia. We focused on the frontal eye field (FEF), which has been implicated in the persistent effects of antisaccades on subsequent responses in healthy individuals. METHOD Eighteen chronic, medicated schizophrenia outpatients and 15 healthy controls performed antisaccades and prosaccades during functional MRI. Finite impulse response models provided unbiased estimates of event-related HDRs. We compared groups on the peak amplitude, time-to-peak, and full-width half-max of the HDRs. RESULTS In patients, HDRs in bilateral FEF were delayed and prolonged but ultimately of similar amplitude to that of controls. These abnormalities were present for antisaccades, but not prosaccades, and were not seen in a control region. More prolonged HDRs predicted slower responses in trials that followed an antisaccade. This suggests that persistent FEF activity following an antisaccade contributes to inter-trial effects on latency. CONCLUSIONS Delayed and prolonged HDRs for antisaccades in schizophrenia suggest that the functions necessary for successful antisaccade performance take longer to implement and are more persistent. If abnormally persistent neural responses on cognitively demanding tasks are a more general feature of schizophrenia, they may contribute to response perseveration, a classic behavioral abnormality. These findings also underscore the importance of evaluating the temporal dynamics of neural activity to understand cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kara A. Dyckman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Adrian K. C. Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Yigal Agam
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Mark Vangel
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Donald C. Goff
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Jason J.S. Barton
- Departments of Neurology, Ophthalmology, and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Dara S. Manoach
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
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