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The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice
Published on: February 4, 2015
The neurodynamics underlying attentional control in set shifting tasks.
Anja Stemme1, Gustavo Deco, Astrid Busch
1Department Psychologie, LMU Munich, Leopoldstr. 13, Munich, 80802, Germany, stemme@psy.uni-muenchen.de.
Cognitive Neurodynamics
|November 13, 2008
Summary
This study introduces a new neurodynamical model and experiment (Wisconsin-Delayed-Match-to-Sample) to explain attention deficits in set shifting tasks, like the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Set shifting tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Stroop task, reveal errors and response delays linked to reduced attention.
- Attentional control, crucial for these tasks, is theorized to involve prefrontal cortex mechanisms amplifying relevant information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate phenomena in set shifting tasks, including error types and response times.
- To develop and utilize a neurodynamical model for a novel set shifting experiment.
Main Methods:
- Development of a neurodynamical model.
- Introduction of the Wisconsin-Delayed-Match-to-Sample (WDMS) task, combining uninstructed shifts with a Delayed-Match-to-Sample paradigm.
Main Results:
- The WDMS experiments and neurodynamical simulations explain decreased attention in set shifting.
- The study differentiates the impact of attention deficits on bivalent versus multivalent response tasks.
Conclusions:
- Attentional control mechanisms, potentially involving prefrontal cortex amplification, are key to understanding set shifting performance.
- The developed WDMS task and model offer insights into attention deficits and their varying consequences.
