Journal article
Lingering neural representations of past task features adversely affect future behavior
The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.43(2), pp.282-292
01/11/2023
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0464-22.2022
PMCID: PMC9838716
PMID: 36639905
Abstract
During goal-directed behavior, humans purportedly form and retrieve so-called event files, conjunctive representations that link context-specific information about stimuli, their associated actions, and the expected action outcomes. The automatic formation, and later retrieval, of such conjunctive representations can substantially facilitate efficient action selection. However, recent behavioral work suggests that these event files may also adversely affect future behavior, especially when action requirements have changed between successive instances of the same task context (e.g., during task switching). Here, we directly tested this hypothesis with a recently developed method for measuring the strength of the neural representations of context-specific stimulus–action conjunctions (i.e., event files). Thirty-five male and female adult humans performed a task switching paradigm while undergoing EEG recordings. Replicating previous behavioral work, we found that changes in action requirements between two spaced repetitions of the same task incurred a significant reaction time cost. By combining multivariate pattern analysis and representational similarity analysis of the EEG recordings with linear mixed-effects modeling of trial-to-trial behavior, we then found that the magnitude of this behavioral cost was directly proportional to the strength of the conjunctive representation formed during the most recent previous exposure to the same task, that is, the most recent event file. This confirms that the formation of conjunctive representations of specific task contexts, stimuli, and actions in the brain can indeed adversely affect future behavior. Moreover, these findings demonstrate the potential of neural decoding of complex task set representations toward the prediction of behavior beyond the current trial.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Lingering neural representations of past task features adversely affect future behavior
- Creators
- Benjamin O. Rangel - University of IowaEliot HazeltineJan R. Wessel
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.43(2), pp.282-292
- DOI
- 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0464-22.2022
- PMID
- 36639905
- PMCID
- PMC9838716
- ISSN
- 0270-6474
- eISSN
- 1529-2401
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100000065, name: HHS | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, award: NS102201
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 12/05/2022
- Date published
- 01/11/2023
- Academic Unit
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984353742702771
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