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What is odd in the oddball task? Prefrontal cortex is activated by dynamic changes in response strategy.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Huettel, SA; McCarthy, G
Published in: Neuropsychologia
January 2004

In the "oddball" target detection task, subjects respond to target stimuli that occur infrequently and irregularly within a series of standard stimuli. Although detection of these targets reliably evokes transient activity in prefrontal cortical regions, it has not been established whether this activity is due to selection of an infrequent response or to changes in response strategy. We investigated this issue using a novel variant of the oddball task that incorporated the Simon effect, while measuring hemodynamic brain activity in prefrontal cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects viewed a series of circles and squares that required left and right button presses, respectively. On 90% of trials ("standard" trials), the stimuli were presented in the same visual hemifield as the hand of response, but on 10% of trials ("strategy-change" trials) they were presented in the opposite visual hemifield. Significant activation to the infrequent strategy-change trials was found in the anterior middle frontal gyrus (MFG), the posterior inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and adjacent insular cortex, and in the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG). These regions, which correspond to previous reports of oddball-related activation, were consistent across subjects. Behavioral results supported our interpretation that subjects potentiated a position-based response strategy, which was inhibited on the strategy-change trials. Activity within the MFG and ACG was much greater on error trials than on correct trials, while IFG activity was similar between error and correct trials. We conclude that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is associated with dynamic changes in the mapping of stimuli to responses (e.g. response strategies), independently of any changes in behavior.

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Published In

Neuropsychologia

DOI

EISSN

1873-3514

ISSN

0028-3932

Publication Date

January 2004

Volume

42

Issue

3

Start / End Page

379 / 386

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Fields
  • Reference Values
  • Reaction Time
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Field Dependence-Independence
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology
 

Citation

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Huettel, S. A., & McCarthy, G. (2004). What is odd in the oddball task? Prefrontal cortex is activated by dynamic changes in response strategy. Neuropsychologia, 42(3), 379–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.07.009
Huettel, Scott A., and Gregory McCarthy. “What is odd in the oddball task? Prefrontal cortex is activated by dynamic changes in response strategy.Neuropsychologia 42, no. 3 (January 2004): 379–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.07.009.
Huettel, Scott A., and Gregory McCarthy. “What is odd in the oddball task? Prefrontal cortex is activated by dynamic changes in response strategy.Neuropsychologia, vol. 42, no. 3, Jan. 2004, pp. 379–86. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.07.009.
Journal cover image

Published In

Neuropsychologia

DOI

EISSN

1873-3514

ISSN

0028-3932

Publication Date

January 2004

Volume

42

Issue

3

Start / End Page

379 / 386

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Fields
  • Reference Values
  • Reaction Time
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Field Dependence-Independence
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology