The Representation of Abstract Task Rules in the Human Prefrontal Cortex
The Representation of Abstract Task Rules in the Human Prefrontal Cortex
复制标题
DOI：
10.1093/cercor/bhn222
复制
发表时间：
2009-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Passingham, Richard E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bengtsson, Sara L.;Haynes, John-Dylan;Passingham, Richard E.
我们以前曾报道过，当参与者按照指示准备执行两项任务中的一项时，腹侧前额叶皮层会持续激活。但也有研究表明，前额叶皮层的其他区域的激活反映了任务规则，尤其是当让参与者决定遵守哪一条规则时。本实验的目的是使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI），以发现是否有共同的激活，无论任务规则的建立方式。在每次试验中，我们在可变的延迟后呈现一个单词，参与者必须决定这个单词是抽象的还是具体的，或者它是否有两个音节。参与者要么在延迟之前决定他们将执行哪项任务，要么接受书面提示的指导。比较自发和指令任务，在额中回的延迟过程中存在早期任务集激活。另一方面，联合分析显示，在这两种情况下，腹侧前额叶和极地皮层的持续激活。我们认为，腹侧前额叶皮层是专门用于处理条件规则，无论任务规则是如何建立的。
We have previously reported sustained activation in the ventral prefrontal cortex while participants prepared to perform 1 of 2 tasks as instructed. But there are studies that have reported activation reflecting task rules elsewhere in prefrontal cortex, and this is true in particular when it was left to the participants to decide which rule to obey. The aim of the present experiment was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to find whether there was activation in common, irrespective of the way that the task rules were established. On each trial, we presented a word after a variable delay, and participants had to decide either whether the word was abstract or concrete or whether it had 2 syllables. The participants either decided before the delay which task they would perform or were instructed by written cues. Comparing the self-generated with the instructed trials, there was early task set activation during the delay in the middle frontal gyrus. On the other hand, a conjunction analysis revealed sustained activation in the ventral prefrontal and polar cortex for both conditions. We argue that the ventral prefrontal cortex is specialized for handling conditional rules regardless of how the task rules were established.