A gradient from long-term memory to novel cognition: Transitions through default mode and executive cortex
Xiuyi Wang1, Daniel S Margulies2, Jonathan Smallwood1
1Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom.
Neuroimage
|June 24, 2020
Summary
Human cognition flexibly handles decision-making by organizing brain function along a connectivity gradient. This gradient supports semantic decision-making across familiar and novel situations, integrating sensory and default mode networks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Human decision-making adapts to varying familiarity.
- Brain organization follows a connectivity gradient from unimodal to transmodal regions.
- Understanding how this gradient supports cognition in mixed familiarity is key.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if neural organization along a connectivity gradient explains decision-making across situations of varying familiarity.
- To explore the relationship between semantic similarity and brain activity patterns.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a semantic judgment task with a parametrically varied 'task gradient' based on item semantic similarity.
- Examined brain responses using neuroimaging techniques across a spectrum of conceptual overlap.
- Analyzed functional changes along the cortex's connectivity gradient.
Main Results:
- Brain responses systematically varied along the connectivity gradient, correlating with the task gradient.
- The default mode network showed the strongest response to highly overlapping conceptual items.
- Graded functional changes were observed across regions and individuals, independent of task difficulty.
Conclusions:
- The brain's connectivity gradient provides an organizational principle for semantic cognition.
- This graded organization supports flexible semantic decision-making in both familiar and novel contexts.
- Cortical organization is structured to manage semantic processing across the familiarity spectrum.
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