Cognitive Control

Executive-attention theory proposes a close relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and cognitive control abilities. However, conflicting results are documented in the literature, with some studies reporting that individual variations in WMC predict differences in cognitive control and trial-to-trial control adjustments (operationalized as the size of the congruency effect and congruency sequence effects, respectively), while others report no WMC-related differences. We hypothesized that brain network dynamics might be a more sensitive measure of WMC-related differences in cognitive control abilities. Thus, in the present study, we measured human EEG during the Simon task to characterize WMC-related differences in the neural dynamics of conflict processing and adaptation to conflict. Although high- and low-WMC individuals did not differ behaviorally, there were substantial WMC-related differences in theta (4–8 Hz) and delta (1–3 Hz) connectivity in fronto-parietal networks. Group differences in local theta and delta power were relatively less pronounced. These results suggest that the relationship between WMC and cognitive control abilities is more strongly reflected in large-scale oscillatory network dynamics than in spatially localized activity or in behavioral task performance.

We investigated the moderating impact of the personality construct alexithymia on the ability of younger and older adults to control the recall of negative and neutral material. We conducted two experiments using the directed forgetting paradigm with younger and older adults. Participants studied negative (Experiment 1) or neutral (Experiment 2) words. Participants were instructed to forget the first half and remember the second half of an entire list of words. Overall, we found that alexithymia impairs the ability of both younger and older adults to cognitively control negative material (through both recall and inhibition). The “externally oriented thinking” factor of alexithymia appears to play a particularly pertinent role in terms of inhibiting negative material. Furthermore, older adults recalled fewer sought after negative items, but this was not evident in terms of inhibition. In contrast, only age (older adults) negatively impacted the recall of sought after neutral items. Interestingly, alexithymia had the opposite effect: the “difficulty in identifying emotions” factor of alexithymia was associated with an increased recall of neutral items. We discuss these results in terms of alexithymia and its impact on cognitive control.

Tourette syndrome [TS] is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by chronic vocal and motor tics. TS has been associated with dysfunctional cognitive (inhibitory) control of behaviour, however the evidence for this, beyond the occurrence of tics, is scant. Furthermore, in recent studies of uncomplicated TS, it has been shown that adolescents with TS exhibit paradoxically enhanced cognitive control of motor output, consistent with the typical developmental profile of increasing control of tics during adolescence. Here we present arguments, together with new data, that run counter to the widely held view that prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the source of inhibitory task-control signals. Instead, we argue that PFC should be viewed as a source of facilitatory signals that bias competition in brain areas more directly involved in motor execution. Importantly, we argue that in TS, over-activation of PFC may contribute to the hyper- excitability of motor regions and the occurrence of tics; and that compensatory changes, leading to enhanced cognitive control in TS, may primarily be implemented by distributed changes in local cortical excitability.

The purpose of this study was to determine a profile for predicting attrition among older adults involved in a 12-month exercise program. The parent study was a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. The study took place between 2006 and 2009 within a university setting. Older adults (N = 179) completed baseline assessments of functional performance and psychosocial measures. Participants who were randomized, elected to receive treatment, and did not complete the exercise program were considered "dropouts" (n = 35). Those who completed the program (n = 144) were classified as "completers." A latent profile analysis revealed two distinct patterns of memory complaints, self-efficacy to overcome barriers to exercise, balance performance, and stair performance. Dropouts were nearly twice as likely to be members of the profile that exhibited a higher degree of memory complaints, lower self-efficacy for overcoming exercise barriers, poorer single leg balance, and longer times to walk down stairs. The results provide an initial validation of a profile for discriminating between "dropouts" and "completers," one that may have considerable utility for screening older adults prior to study entry.

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine
the neural basis of extreme multilingual language control in a group
of 50 multilingual participants. Comparing brain responses arising
during simultaneous interpretation (SI) with those arising during simultaneous
repetition revealed activation of regions known to be
involved in speech perception and production, alongside a network
incorporating the caudate nucleus that is known to be implicated in
domain-general cognitive control. The similarity between the networks
underlying bilingual language control and general executive
control supports the notion that the frequently reported bilingual
advantage on executive tasks stems from the day-to-day demands of
language control in the multilingual brain. We examined neural correlates
of the management of simultaneity by correlating brain activity
during interpretation with the duration of simultaneous speaking and
hearing. This analysis showed significant modulation of the putamen
by the duration of simultaneity. Our findings suggest that, during SI,
the caudate nucleus is implicated in the overarching selection and
control of the lexico-semantic system, while the putamen is implicated
in ongoing control of language output. These findings provide
the first clear dissociation of specific dorsal striatum structures in
polyglot language control, roles that are consistent with previously
described involvement of these regions in nonlinguistic executive
control.

Resolving conflicting sensory and motor representations is a core function of cognitive control, but it remains uncertain to what degree control over different sources of conflict is implemented by shared (domain general) or distinct (domain specific) neural resources. Behavioral data suggest conflict–control to be domain specific, but results from neuroimaging studies have been ambivalent. Here, we employed multivoxel pattern analyses that can decode a brain region's informational content, allowing us to distinguish incidental activation overlap from actual shared information processing. We trained independent sets of “searchlight” classifiers on functional magnetic resonance imaging data to decode control processes associated with stimulus-conflict (Stroop task) and ideomotor-conflict (Simon task). Quantifying the proportion of domain-specific searchlights (capable of decoding only one type of conflict) and domain-general searchlights (capable of decoding both conflict types) in each subject, we found both domain-specific and domain-general searchlights, though the former were more common. When mapping anatomical loci of these searchlights across subjects, neural substrates of stimulus- and ideomotor-specific conflict–control were found to be anatomically consistent across subjects, whereas the substrates of domain-general conflict–control were not. Overall, these findings suggest a hybrid neural architecture of conflict–control that entails both modular (domain specific) and global (domain general) components.

“Cognitive control” describes endogenous guidance of behavior in situations where routine stimulus-response associations are suboptimal for achieving a desired goal. The computational and neural mechanisms underlying this capacity remain poorly understood. We examine recent advances stemming from the application of a Bayesian learner perspective that provides optimal prediction for control processes. In reviewing the application of Bayesian models to cognitive control, we note that an important limitation in current models is a lack of a plausible mechanism for the flexible adjustment of control over conflict levels changing at varying temporal scales. We then show that flexible cognitive control can be achieved by a Bayesian model with a volatility-driven learning mechanism that modulates dynamically the relative dependence on recent and remote experiences in its prediction of future control demand. We conclude that the emergent Bayesian perspective on computational mechanisms of cognitive control holds considerable promise, especially if future studies can identify neural substrates of the variables encoded by these models, and determine the nature (Bayesian or otherwise) of their neural implementation.

Inhibitory control is thought to serve an adaptive function in controlling behavior, with individual differences predicting variation in numerous cognitive functions. However, inhibition is more properly construed as inducing both benefits and costs to performance. Benefits arise at the point when inhibition prevents expression of an unwanted or contextually inappropriate response; costs arise later, when access to the inhibited representation is
required by other processes. Here we illustrate how failure to consider both the costs and benefits of inhibition has generated confusion in the literature on individual differences
in cognitive control. Using retrieval-induced forgetting as a model case, we illustrate this by showing that changing the way that retrieval-induced forgetting is measured to allow greater expression of the benefits of inhibition together with the costs can reduce and even reverse the theoretically predicted correlation between motor and memory inhibition. Specifically, we show that when the final test in a retrieval-induced forgetting procedure employs item-specific cues (i.e., category-plus-stem cued recall and item-recognition) that better isolate the lingering costs of inhibition, better motor response inhibition (faster stop-signal reaction times) predicts greater retrieval-induced forgetting. In striking contrast, when the final test is less well controlled, allowing both the costs and benefits of inhibition to contribute, motor response inhibition has the opposite relationship with retrieval-induced forgetting. These findings underscore the importance of considering the correlated costs and benefits problem when studying individual differences in inhibitory control. More generally, they suggest that a shared inhibition mechanism may underlie
people’s ability to control memories and actions.

Studies of visual esthetic preference have shown that people without art training generally prefer representational paintings to abstract paintings. This, however, is not always the case: preferences can sometimes go against this usual tendency. We aimed to explore this issue, investigating the relationship between “unusual responses” and reaction time in an esthetic appreciation task. Results of a behavioral experiment confirmed the trend for laypeople to consider as beautiful mostly representational stimuli and as not beautiful mostly abstract ones (“usual response”). Furthermore, when participants gave unusual responses, they needed longer time, especially when considering abstract stimuli as beautiful. We interpreted this longer time as greater involvement of cognitive mastering and evaluation processes during the unusual responses. Results of an fMRI experiment indicated that the anterior cingulate (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and insula were the main structures involved in this effect. We discuss the possible role of these areas in an esthetic appreciation task.

People who engage in self-injury report high levels of negative urgency, the tendency to act impulsively when experiencing
negative emotions. This suggests that self-injurers may have
impaired cognitive control during negative mood. 
 
Based on previous research, we hypothesized: 1) No baseline differences in cognitive control between healthy individuals and people who self-injure in the absence of a mood induction; 2) Decreased cognitive control and increased negative affect in self-injurers, compared to healthy controls, following a negative mood induction.

In individuals with a high susceptibility to hypnosis, an induction rapidly, reliably and reversibly produces remarkable changes in the control of thought and action. This is hypothesised to involve a breakdown between conflict monitoring and control. Kaiser et al. (1997) reported a dissociation between components the early Ne (negative) and later Pe (positive) components of error related potentials in high(er) hypnotically susceptible persons under hypnosis. Pe (but not Ne) decreased for participants with a high susceptibility to hypnosis after hypnotic induction. If confirmed this finding is important for understanding dissociation of cognitive control in hypnosis and for discriminating the functional roles of the Ne and the Pe.
The Kaiser et al. (1997) study had serious methodological weaknesses. It did not employ a standardized measure of hypnotic susceptibility and did not follow accepted protocols to establish low and high susceptible groups prior to testing. This study aims to replicate Kaiser et al. (1997) while correcting these methodological problems. It sought to test the theory that hypnosis induces dissociation between conflict monitoring and control mechanisms by examining the effect of susceptibility and hypnotic induction on the Ne and Pe. It replicated the impaired Pe finding but found that Ne was actually enhanced in hypnotized high susceptible suggesting impairment in the control modulation (but not error detection) mechanism under hypnosis and provides evidence that dissociation in the error detection - cognitive control feedback loop occurs during hypnosis.

In most prior research, positive affect has been consistently found to promote cognitive flexibility. However, the
motivational dimensional model of affect assumes that the influence of positive affect on cognitive processes is
modulated by approach-motivation intensity. In the present study, we extended the motivational dimensional model
to the domain of cognitive control by examining the effect of low- versus high-approach-motivated positive affect on
the balance between cognitive flexibility and stability in an attentional-set-shifting paradigm. Results showed that lowapproach-
motivated positive affect promoted cognitive flexibility but also caused higher distractibility, whereas highapproach-
motivated positive affect enhanced perseverance but simultaneously reduced distractibility. These results
suggest that the balance between cognitive flexibility and stability is modulated by the approach-motivation intensity
of positive affective states. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate motivational intensity into studies on the influence
of affect on cognitive control.

Hypnosis can profoundly alter sensory awareness and cognitive processing. While the cognitive and behavioral phenomena associated with hypnosis have long been thought to relate to attentional processes, the neural mechanisms underlying susceptibility to hypnotic induction and the hypnotic condition are poorly understood. Here we tested the proposal that highly hypnotizable individuals are particularly adept at focusing attention at baseline, but that their attentional control is compromised following hypnosis due to a decoupling between conflict monitoring and cognitive control processes of the frontal lobe.  Employing event-related fMRI and EEG coherence measures, we compared conflict-related neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and control-related activity in the lateral frontal cortex (LFC) during Stroop task performance between participants of low and high hypnotic susceptibility, at baseline and after hypnotic induction. The fMRI data revealed that conflict-related ACC activity interacted with hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility, in that highly susceptible participants displayed increased conflict-related neural activity in the hypnosis condition compared to baseline, as well as with respect to subjects with low susceptibility. Cognitive control-related LFC activity, on the other hand, did not differ between groups and conditions. These data were complemented by a decrease in functional connectivity (EEG gamma band coherence) between frontal midline and left lateral scalp sites in highly susceptible subjects after hypnosis. These results suggest that individual differences in hypnotic susceptibility are linked with the efficiency of the frontal attention system, and that the hypnotized condition is characterized by a functional dissociation of conflict monitoring and cognitive control processes.