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Related Experiment Videos

Success and failure suppressing reflexive behavior.

Clayton E Curtis1, Mark D'Esposito

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley 94720-1650, USA. cc@socrates.berkeley.edu

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
|May 6, 2003
PubMed
Summary
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Brain activity in the pre-supplementary motor area helps suppress reflexive eye movements. This preparatory activity predicts successful inhibition during voluntary antisaccade tasks, demonstrating top-down behavioral control.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Motor Control

Background:

  • Behavior is governed by a dynamic interplay between reflexive and controlled processes.
  • The antisaccade task serves as a model for understanding the competition between reflexive and voluntary saccadic eye movements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the control of reflexive behavior.
  • To identify brain regions involved in suppressing reflexive actions during voluntary tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
  • Participants performed voluntary antisaccades (away from a target) and reflexive prosaccades (towards a target).

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Greater prestimulus preparatory activity was observed in the pre-supplementary motor area during voluntary antisaccades compared to prosaccades.
  • This preparatory activity was significantly correlated with the successful inhibition of the reflexive saccade.

Conclusions:

  • The pre-supplementary motor area plays a critical role in top-down control over reflexive behavior.
  • Pre-trial neural activity predicts the ability to inhibit automatic responses, illustrating a mechanism for volitional control.