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Task difficulty manipulation reveals multiple demand activity but no frontal lobe hierarchy.

Ben M Crittenden¹, John Duncan

¹MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

|November 8, 2012

Summary

This study investigated task control using brain imaging. Findings suggest the frontoparietal system acts as an integrated network, recruited even for simple tasks, challenging existing gradient models.

Keywords:

Information Cascade Rule Abstraction functional magnetic resonance imaging multiple demand prefrontal cortex

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging

Background:

Task control is thought to involve a distributed frontoparietal system.
The lateral frontal cortex's organization along a caudal to rostral gradient is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

To test competing models (Information Cascade and Rule Abstraction) of rostrocaudal organization in the lateral frontal cortex.
To investigate frontoparietal system recruitment during a simple visual task.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used.
Participants performed a visual search task involving identifying the shortest of four vertical lines.
Task difficulty was manipulated by varying the number of lines, line length differences, and stimulus-response mapping.

Main Results:

Widespread frontoparietal activation was observed, extending more anteriorly than predicted by the tested models.
Significant individual differences in the rostrocaudal extent of activation were noted.
The frontoparietal system was recruited even for simple task demands.

Conclusions:

The findings support an integrated frontoparietal system model for task control.
Existing models of rostrocaudal organization may not fully capture the functional dynamics of this system.
The entire frontoparietal network can be recruited flexibly, even for basic tasks.