Information-based TMS to mid-lateral prefrontal cortex disrupts action goals during emotional processing

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Affective Science

Background:

• Adaptive functioning relies on context-sensitive, goal-oriented responses to emotional events.
• The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is theorized to support cognitive control via goal-relevant representations.
• Causal evidence for LPFC's role in emotion regulation and cognitive control is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the causal role of mid-LPFC goal-relevant representations in cognitive control during emotional processing.
• To test the hypothesis that mid-LPFC maintains representations critical for goal-oriented action in affective contexts.

Main Methods:

• Utilized continuous theta burst (cTBS) to temporarily disrupt mid-LPFC function in healthy participants.
• Employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an Affective Go/No-Go task.
• Targeted mid-LPFC based on individualized action-goal representations, with a control site comparison.

Main Results:

• cTBS over mid-LPFC reduced action-goal representations within the targeted region.
• Mid-LPFC disruption impaired goal-oriented action, particularly when processing negative emotional cues.
• Reduced functional connectivity between mid-LPFC and default mode network nodes (e.g., frontopolar cortex) was observed during negative cue processing.

Conclusions:

• Mid-LPFC goal-relevant representations causally mediate context-sensitive cognitive control during emotional processing.
• These findings highlight the role of LPFC in integrating emotional information for adaptive goal-directed behavior.
• The study provides causal evidence linking LPFC function to emotion regulation and cognitive control.