A domain-independent source of cognitive control for task sets: shifting spatial attention and switching...

To optimize task performance as circumstances unfold, cognitive control mechanisms configure the brain to prepare for upcoming events through voluntary shifts in task set. A foundational unanswered question concerns whether different domains of cognitive control (e.g., spatial attention shifts, shifts between categorization rules, or shifts between stimulus-response mapping rules) are associated with separate, domain-specific control mechanisms, or whether a common, domain-independent source of control initiates shifts in all domains. Previous studies have tested different domains of cognitive control in separate groups of subjects using different paradigms, yielding equivocal conclusions. Here, using rapid event-related MRI, we report evidence from a single paradigm in which subjects were cued to perform both shifts of spatial attention and switches between categorization rules. A conjunction analysis revealed a common transient signal evoked by switch cues in medial superior parietal lobule for both domains of control, revealing a single domain-independent control mechanism.