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The neural correlates and functional integration of cognitive control in a Stroop task.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Egner, T; Hirsch, J
Published in: NeuroImage
January 2005

It is well known that performance on a given trial of a cognitive task is affected by the nature of previous trials. For example, conflict effects on interference tasks, such as the Stroop task, are reduced subsequent to high-conflict trials relative to low-conflict trials. This interaction effect between previous and current trial types is called "conflict adaptation" and thought to be due to processing adjustments in cognitive control. The current study aimed to identify the neural substrates of cognitive control during conflict adaptation by isolating neural correlates of reduced conflict from those of increased cognitive control. We expected cognitive control to be implemented by prefrontal cortex through context-specific modulation of posterior regions involved in sensory and motor aspects of task performance. We collected event-related fMRI data on a color-word naming Stroop task and found distinct fronto-parietal networks of current trial conflict detection and conflict adaptation through cognitive control. Conflict adaptation was associated with increased activity in left middle frontal gyrus (GFm) and superior frontal gyrus (GFs), consistent with increased cognitive control, and with decreased activity in bilateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, consistent with reduced response conflict. Psychophysiological interaction analysis (PPI) revealed that cognitive control activation in GFs and GFm was accompanied by increased functional integration with bilateral inferior frontal, right temporal and parietal areas, and the anterior cerebellum. These data suggest that cognitive control is implemented by medial and lateral prefrontal cortices that bias processes in regions that have been implicated in high-level perceptual and motor processes.

Duke Scholars

Published In

NeuroImage

DOI

EISSN

1095-9572

ISSN

1053-8119

Publication Date

January 2005

Volume

24

Issue

2

Start / End Page

539 / 547

Related Subject Headings

  • Photic Stimulation
  • Neurons
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Humans
  • Functional Laterality
  • Female
  • Conflict, Psychological
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Egner, T., & Hirsch, J. (2005). The neural correlates and functional integration of cognitive control in a Stroop task. NeuroImage, 24(2), 539–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.09.007
Egner, Tobias, and Joy Hirsch. “The neural correlates and functional integration of cognitive control in a Stroop task.NeuroImage 24, no. 2 (January 2005): 539–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.09.007.
Egner, Tobias, and Joy Hirsch. “The neural correlates and functional integration of cognitive control in a Stroop task.NeuroImage, vol. 24, no. 2, Jan. 2005, pp. 539–47. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.09.007.
Journal cover image

Published In

NeuroImage

DOI

EISSN

1095-9572

ISSN

1053-8119

Publication Date

January 2005

Volume

24

Issue

2

Start / End Page

539 / 547

Related Subject Headings

  • Photic Stimulation
  • Neurons
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Humans
  • Functional Laterality
  • Female
  • Conflict, Psychological