Investigating the brain basis of metacognition with real-time fMRI neurofeedback

项目摘要/摘要 人类拥有一种非凡的能力来监控自己的心理过程，这一特性被称为 元认知​​。这项拟议的研究调查了这种能力背后的神经机制。 元认知判断在日常生活和教育环境中很重要，它们在这些方面发挥着重要作用 帮助我们评估自己的决策​1，2​的作用。此外，元认知在一些临床上也受到损害。 Conditions​3-5​。因此，这项拟议的研究可能会产生重要的临床见解。 这项拟议的研究将解决两个基本问题，即 元认知。第一个问题涉及知觉和记忆领域的元认知是否 由相同机制支持，或由​域特定机制​​支持。最近的研究表明， ​前额叶皮质​​13、14、17​和 楔形前​​13，14，16​。拟议的研究将通过双向提供对这些假设的因果检验 操纵这些区域中特定表示的内容。 第二个问题是关于元认知偏向(​Metacogntive Bias​​)的区别--一个人的总体水平 置信度--和元认知准确度--决策置信度对决策的预测程度(​Metacogntive Accuracy​​) Accuracy​23​。许多实验已经研究了元认知偏差的大脑基础，但大脑 元认知准确性的基础还不太清楚。最近的提案假设​是PFC 通过整合多个信息源在元认知准确性方面发挥重要作用，这些信息源可能 通知信心判断​15，24​。拟议的研究将通过双向检验这一假说。 操纵aPFC中特定表示的内容。 为了实现所提出的研究目标，我们将使用实时功能磁共振解码的神经反馈 (DecNef)​15​DecNef允许对特定神经表示的内容进行操作，甚至允许 同一大脑区域内的不同表征要单独控制。因为许多人 感兴趣的表示在同一区域内重叠，DecNef是处理这些内容的完美工具 与其他方法相比，它提供了许多优势。我们计划 利用这些优势来回答关于元认知的大脑基础的基本问题 不能使用以前可用的方法来解决。赞助商的实验室是少数几个实验室之一 在DecNef​12、20、22​方面拥有广泛专业知识的研究小组，将是培训的极佳环境 这项技术。DecNef的培训将为申请者之前的fMRI、Brain培训增加一个重要工具 刺激技术和计算建模，并将为申请者准备过渡到他们的下一个 以独立研究人员的身份登台。

Project Summary / Abstract Humans possess a remarkable ability to monitor their own mental processes, a property termed metacognition​​. The proposed research investigates the neural mechanisms that underlie this capacity. Metacognitive judgments are important in everyday life and educational settings, where they play an important role in helping us to evaluate our own decisions​1,2​. Moreover, metacognition is impaired in a number of clinical conditions​3-5​. The proposed research is therefore likely to yield important clinical insights. The proposed research will address two fundamental questions about the neural mechanisms underlying metacognition. The first question concerns whether metacognition in the perceptual and memory domains is supported by the same mechanisms, or by ​domain-specific mechanisms​​. Recent work has suggested that domain-specific mechanisms may exist in both the ​anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC)​​13,14,17​ and the precuneus​​13,14,16​. The proposed research will provide a causal test of these hypotheses by bidirectionally manipulating the content of specific representations in these regions. The second question concerns the distinction between ​metacognitive bias​​ -- one’s overall level of confidence -- and ​metacognitive accuracy​​ -- the extent to which decision confidence is predictive of decision accuracy​23​. A number of experiments have investigated the brain basis of metacognitive bias, but the brain basis of metacognitive accuracy is less well understood. Recent proposals have hypothesized that the ​aPFC plays an important role in metacognitive accuracy by integrating multiple sources of information that may inform a confidence judgment​15,24​. The proposed research will test this hypothesis by bidirectionally manipulating the content of specific representations in the aPFC. To accomplish the proposed research goals, we will use real-time fMRI Decoded Neurofeedback (DecNef)​15​. DecNef allows the content of specific neural representations to be manipulated, even allowing different representations within the same brain region to be controlled separately. Because many of the representations of interest overlap within the same region, DecNef is the perfect tool for manipulating these representations in a precise manner, and provides numerous advantages over other approaches. We plan to capitalize on these advantages to answer fundamental questions about the brain basis of metacognition which could not be addressed using previously available approaches. The sponsor’s laboratory is one of a few research groups with extensive expertise in DecNef​12,20,22​, and will be an excellent environment for training in this technique. Training in DecNef will add an important tool to the applicant’s previous training in fMRI, brain stimulation techniques, and computational modeling, and will prepare the applicant to transition to their next stage as an independent researcher.