Dataset Information

Frontal theta predicts specific cognitive control-induced behavioural changes beyond general reaction time slowing.

ABSTRACT: Investigations into the neurophysiological underpinnings of control suggest that frontal theta activity is increased with the need for control. However, these studies typically show this link by reporting associations between increased theta and RT slowing - a process that is contemporaneous with cognitive control but does not strictly reflect the specific use of control. In this study, we assessed frontal theta responses that underpinned the switch cost in task switching - a specific index of cognitive control that does not rely exclusively on RT slowing. Here, we utilised a single-trial regression approach to assess 1) how cognitive control demands beyond simple RT slowing were linked to midfrontal theta and 2) whether midfrontal theta effects remained stable over time. In a large cohort that included a longitudinal subsample, we found that midfrontal theta was modulated by switch costs, with enhanced theta power when preparing to switch vs. repeating a task. These effects were reliable after a two-year interval (Cronbach's ?.39-0.74). In contrast, we found that trial-by-trial modulations of midfrontal theta power predicted the size of the switch cost - so that switch trials with increased theta produced smaller switch costs. Interestingly, these relationships between theta and behaviour were less stable over time (Cronbach's ? 0-0.61), with participants first using both delta and theta bands to influence behaviour whereas after two years only theta associations with behaviour remained. Together, these findings suggest midfrontal theta supports the need for control beyond simple RT slowing and reveal that midfrontal theta effects remain relatively stable over time.

SUBMITTER: Cooper PS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7664162 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Frontal theta predicts specific cognitive control-induced behavioural changes beyond general reaction time slowing.

Cooper Patrick S PS Karayanidis Frini F McKewen Montana M McLellan-Hall Samuel S Wong Aaron S W ASW Skippen Patrick P Cavanagh James F JF

NeuroImage 20190110

Investigations into the neurophysiological underpinnings of control suggest that frontal theta activity is increased with the need for control. However, these studies typically show this link by reporting associations between increased theta and RT slowing - a process that is contemporaneous with cognitive control but does not strictly reflect the specific use of control. In this study, we assessed frontal theta responses that underpinned the switch cost in task switching - a specific index of c ...[more]

PMID: 30639331

Similar Datasets

Project description:Frontal-midline theta (FMT) oscillations are increased in amplitude during cognitive control tasks. Since these tasks often conflate cognitive control and cognitive effort, it remains unknown if FMT amplitude maps onto cognitive control or effort. To address this gap, we utilized the glucose facilitation effect to manipulate cognitive effort without changing cognitive control demands. We performed a single-blind, crossover human study in which we provided participants with a glucose drink (control session: volume-matched water) to reduce cognitive effort and improve performance on a visuospatial working memory task. Following glucose consumption, participants performed the working memory task at multiple time points of a 3-h window to sample across the rise and fall of blood glucose. Using high-density electroencephalography (EEG), we calculated FMT amplitude during the delay period of the working memory task. Source localization analysis revealed that FMT oscillations originated from bilateral prefrontal cortex. We found that glucose increased working memory accuracy during the high working memory load condition but decreased FMT amplitude. The decrease in FMT amplitude coincided with both peak blood glucose elevation and peak performance enhancement for glucose relative to water. Therefore, the positive association between glucose consumption and task performance provided causal evidence that the amplitude of FMT oscillations may correspond to cognitive effort, rather than cognitive control. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data collection was terminated prematurely; the preliminary nature of these findings due to small sample size should be contextualized by rigorous experimental design and use of a novel causal perturbation to dissociate cognitive effort and cognitive control.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We investigated whether frontal-midline theta (FMT) oscillations tracked with cognitive control or cognitive effort by simultaneous manipulation of cognitive control demands in a working memory task and causal perturbation of cognitive effort using glucose consumption. Facilitation of performance from glucose consumption corresponded with decreased FMT amplitude, which provided preliminary causal evidence for a relationship between FMT amplitude with cognitive effort.

Dataset Information

Frontal theta predicts specific cognitive control-induced behavioural changes beyond general reaction time slowing.

Publications

Frontal theta predicts specific cognitive control-induced behavioural changes beyond general reaction time slowing.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets