Using neural pattern classifiers to quantify the modularity of conflict-control mechanisms in the human brain

Jiefeng Jiang; Tobias Egner

doi:10.1093/cercor/bht029

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Using neural pattern classifiers to quantify the modularity of conflict-control mechanisms in the human brain

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Using neural pattern classifiers to quantify the modularity of conflict-control mechanisms in the human brain

Jiefeng Jiang and Tobias Egner

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. 1991), Vol.24(7), pp.1793-1805

07/2014

DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bht029

PMCID: PMC4051892

PMID: 23402762

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https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bht029View

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Abstract

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.

Vocabulary

Humans

Linear Models

Male

Reaction Time

Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology

Brain - physiology

Psychomotor Performance - physiology

Oxygen - blood

Neuropsychological Tests

Young Adult

Brain - blood supply

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Analysis of Variance

Image Processing, Computer-Assisted

Brain Mapping

Conflict (Psychology)

Female

Functional Laterality - physiology

Face

Details

Title: Subtitle: Using neural pattern classifiers to quantify the modularity of conflict-control mechanisms in the human brain
Creators: Jiefeng Jiang - Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Tobias Egner - Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. 1991), Vol.24(7), pp.1793-1805
Publisher: United States
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bht029
PMID: 23402762
PMCID: PMC4051892
ISSN: 1047-3211
eISSN: 1460-2199
Grant note: R01 MH087610 / NIMH NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 07/2014
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984065834802771

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