Sequential Control Underlies Robust Ramping Dynamics in the Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex
Sequential Control Underlies Robust Ramping Dynamics in the Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex
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DOI：
10.1523/jneurosci.1060-18.2018
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发表时间：
2019-02-20
影响因子：
5.3
通讯作者：
Badre, David
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Desrochers, Theresa M.;Collins, Anne G. E.;Badre, David
人类的一项基本技能是我们监测和执行一系列任务以服务于总体目标的能力。这样的序列可以像泡一杯咖啡一样平凡，也可以像驾驶战斗机一样复杂。此前，我们证明，在序列控制过程中，嘴外侧前额叶皮质(RLPFC)表现出在序列中稳定倾斜的激活，这是使用人类fMRI执行序列任务所必需的(Desrocher等人，2015)。目前尚不清楚这种增长动力背后的计算可能是什么。在两个独立的fMRI实验中，我们操纵了序列控制任务特有的三个特征，以确定它们是否以及如何调节RLPFC中的斜坡活动：(1)序列位置不确定性，(2)没有外部位置线索的序列监控(即来自记忆)，以及(3)没有多层决策(即任务执行)的序列监控。我们在RLPFC中复制了斜坡激活，发现无论任务抽象的水平或记忆功能的参与程度，它都非常健壮。因此，这些结果既复制并扩展了先前关于RLPFC功能的发现。他们认为，顺序控制过程是RLPFC活动动态的组成部分。提高顺序控制的神经基础的知识对于我们理解日常生活所必需的顺序过程是至关重要的。
An essential human skill is our capacity to monitor and execute a sequence of tasks in the service of an overarching goal. Such a sequence can be as mundane as making a cup of coffee or as complex as flying a fighter plane. Previously, we showed that, during sequential control, the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC) exhibits activation that ramps steadily through the sequence and is necessary for sequential task execution using fMRI in humans (Desrochers et al., 2015). It remains unknown what computations may underlie this ramping dynamic. Across two independent fMRI experiments, we manipulated three features that were unique to the sequential control task to determine whether and how they modulated ramping activity in the RLPFC: (1) sequence position uncertainty, (2) sequential monitoring without external position cues (i.e., from memory), and (3) sequential monitoring without multilevel decision making (i.e., task execution). We replicated the ramping activation in RLPFC and found it to be remarkably robust regardless of the level of task abstraction or engagement of memory functions. Therefore, these results both replicate and extend previous findings regarding the function of the RLPFC. They suggest that sequential control processes are integral to the dynamics of RLPFC activity. Advancing knowledge of the neural bases of sequential control is crucial for our understanding of the sequential processes that are necessary for daily living.