Inhibit, switch, and update: A within-subject fMRI investigation of executive control

Publication date: September 2019Source: Neuropsychologia, Volume 132Author(s): Sabrina Lemire-Rodger, Jaeger Lam, Joseph D. Viviano, W. Dale Stevens, R. Nathan Spreng, Gary R. TurnerAbstractAn influential model of executive control suggests that it comprises three dissociable processes: working memory, inhibition, and task switching. Multiple studies have investigated how these processes are individually implemented in the human brain. However, few have directly investigated this question using a common task architecture and a within-subject design. Here, healthy adult humans (N = 22) performed a novel executive control task during fMRI scanning. The paradigm independently manipulated working memory updating, inhibition, and task switching demands, while keeping all other task features constant. Direct contrasts of each executive task with a closely matched control condition revealed a differentiated pattern of recruitment across control tasks: working memory was associated with activity in dorsolateral prefrontal, lateral parietal and insular cortices bilaterally; Inhibition engaged right lateral and superior medial prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobules bilaterally, right middle and inferior temporal cortex, and ventral visual processing regions; Task switching was associated with bilateral activity in medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, as well as left inferior parietal lobule, lateral temporal cortex and right thalamus. A conjunct...

Source: Neuropsychologia - July 19, 2019 Category: Neurology Source Type: research