Conjunctive representations that integrate stimuli, responses, and rules are critical for action selection
Conjunctive representations that integrate stimuli, responses, and rules are critical for action selection
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1922166117
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发表时间：
2020-05-12
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Mayr, Ulrich
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kikumoto, Atsushi;Mayr, Ulrich
人们可以使用抽象的规则来灵活地配置和选择特定情况下的动作，但规则如何准确地塑造特定感官和/或运动要求的动作仍然不清楚。动物模型和人类水平的行动控制理论的研究都指向高度整合的合取表征的作用，有时被称为事件文件。这些表征被认为是以非线性方式将联合收割机规则与其他与目标相关的感觉和运动特征相结合，并代表了动作选择的必要条件。然而，到目前为止，还没有方法来跟踪这样的表示在人类的动作选择具有足够的时间分辨率。在这里，我们应用时间分辨的表征相似性分析，而参与者进行了提示，基于规则的动作选择任务的脑电图信号的频谱-时间轮廓。在两个实验中，我们发现，连接表示活跃在整个选择期间，并在功能上分离的组成特征的表示。具体而言，连接的强度是一个非常强大的预测试验的反应时间的变化，并选择性地与一个重要的行为指标的连接表示，所谓的部分重叠启动模式。这些结果提供了直接的证据，合取表示的关键前体的行动选择在人类。
People can use abstract rules to flexibly configure and select actions for specific situations, yet how exactly rules shape actions toward specific sensory and/or motor requirements remains unclear. Both research from animal models and human-level theories of action control point to the role of highly integrated, conjunctive representations, sometimes referred to as event files. These representations are thought to combine rules with other, goalrelevant sensory and motor features in a nonlinear manner and represent a necessary condition for action selection. However, so far, no methods exist to track such representations in humans during action selection with adequate temporal resolution. Here, we applied time-resolved representational similarity analysis to the spectral-temporal profiles of electroencephalography signals while participants performed a cued, rule-based action selection task. In two experiments, we found that conjunctive representations were active throughout the entire selection period and were functionally dissociable from the representation of constituent features. Specifically, the strength of conjunctions was a highly robust predictor of trial-by-trial variability in response times and was selectively related to an important behavioral indicator of conjunctive representations, the so-called partial-overlap priming pattern. These results provide direct evidence for conjunctive representations as critical precursors of action selection in humans.