Decreased alertness reconfigures cognitive control networks

Autor: Tristan A. Bekinschtein, Salome Blain, Andrés Canales-Johnson, Shin Kitaoka, Alejandro Ezquerro-Nassar, Lola Beerendonk, Stijn A. Nuiten, Simon van Gaal, Johannes J. Fahrenfort
Přispěvatelé: Psychology Other Research (FMG), Brein en Cognitie (Psychologie, FMG), FMG, Cognitive Psychology, IBBA
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: J Neurosci
Canales-Johnson, A, Beerendonk, L, Blain, S, Kitaoka, S, Ezquerro-Nassar, A, Nuiten, S, Fahrenfort, J, van Gaal, S & Bekinschtein, T A 2020, ' Decreased alertness reconfigures cognitive control networks ', Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 40, no. 37, pp. 7142-7154 . https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0343-20.2020
The Journal of Neuroscience, 40(37), 7142-7154. Society for Neuroscience
Journal of Neuroscience, 40(37), 7142-7154. Society for Neuroscience
ISSN: 1529-2401
0270-6474
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0343-20.2020
Popis: Humans’ remarkable capacity to flexibly adapt their behaviour based on rapid situational changes is termed cognitive control. Intuitively, cognitive control is thought to be affected by the state of alertness, for example, when drowsy we feel less capable of adequately implementing effortful cognitive tasks. Although scientific investigations have focused on the effects of sleep deprivation and circadian time, little is known about how natural daily fluctuations in alertness in the regular awake state affect cognitive control. Here we combined a conflict task in the auditory domain with EEG neurodynamics to test how neural and behavioural markers of conflict processing are affected by fluctuations in alertness. Using a novel computational method, we segregated alert and drowsy trials from two testing sessions and observed that, although participants (both sexes) were generally sluggish, the typical Conflict Effect reflected in slower responses to conflicting information compared to non-conflicting information was still intact, as well as the moderating effect of previous conflict (Conflict Adaptation). However, the typical neural markers of cognitive control-local midfrontal-theta band power changes-that participants show during full alertness were no longer noticeable when alertness decreased. Instead, when drowsy, we found an increase in long-range information sharing (connectivity) between brain regions in the same frequency band. These results show the resilience of the human cognitive control system when affected by internal fluctuations of alertness, and suggest neural compensatory mechanisms at play in response to physiological pressure during diminished alertness.Significance StatementThe normal variability in alertness we experience in daily tasks is rarely taking into account in cognitive neuroscience. Here we studied neurobehavioral dynamics of cognitive control with decreasing alertness. We used the classic Simon Task where participants hear the word “left” or “right” in the right or left ear, eliciting slower responses when the word and the side are incongruent - the conflict effect. Participants performed the task both while fully awake and while getting drowsy, allowing for the characterisation of alertness modulating cognitive control. The changes in the neural signatures of conflict from local theta oscillations to a long-distance distributed theta network suggests a reconfiguration of the underlying neural processes subserving cognitive control when affected by alertness fluctuations.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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