How affordances associated with a distractor object affect compatibility effects: a study with the computational...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Visual perception activates both visual and action brain codes.
• Object-to-response compatibility effects demonstrate this link, influencing action execution even without interaction intent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an enhanced TRoPICALS computational model.
• To explain novel findings on distractor object compatibility effects.
• To elucidate the role of prefrontal cortex in action selection bias.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a computational modeling approach (TRoPICALS).
• Incorporated experiments with target and distractor objects.
• Analyzed object-to-response compatibility effects.

Main Results:

• The enhanced TRoPICALS model reproduces target and distractor compatibility effects.
• Demonstrated a dual role for prefrontal cortex: positive bias for intended actions and negative bias to inhibit distractor-evoked actions.
• Observed a negative compatibility effect from distractor objects.

Conclusions:

• Prefrontal cortex exerts top-down control over action selection through dual biases.
• The model explains how distractor objects can negatively impact response times.
• The model offers predictions for conditions like Parkinson's disease affecting volitional circuits.