Think fast! The role of automaticity in the cognitive control of action

快速思考！

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04120
• 负责人: Cheyne, Douglas
• 金额: $ 2.19万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=587613
• 关键词: Think; fast; role; automaticity; cognitive

The study of human cognition has traditionally focused on executive control and performance monitoring – processes that require memory, attention and mental effort. However, our everyday life consists of a wide repertoire of behaviors that proceed automatically with little conscious guidance, and there has been a long-standing interest in the role of “automaticity” in cognitive control and action. Dual-process theories of higher brain function posit two separate cognitive systems – one conscious and reflective, the other automatic and reflexive – which guide our decisions and actions. These two types of control are likely regulated by different cortical networks, which must seamlessly interact under competing demands of rapid responding and selection of appropriate responses. Similarly, error detection is often a rapid and highly automatic process, yet conscious awareness of our errors is critical in learning and reinforcement of appropriate behaviors. Laboratory tasks involving rapid motor responses to unexpected events can reveal many aspects of cognitive control, but to date have not precisely revealed how and when transitions between these two types of control occur. In previous research, we have shown that automatic and controlled processes were activated in parallel during tasks requiring rapid responding and inhibition, and that responses associated with decreased conscious control were not always associated with decreased performance. Furthermore, several studies have shown that improvements in task performance are associated with decreased response variability, rather than response slowing. This has led us to the general hypothesis that improved performance (e.g., better inhibitory control) is closely related to optimal shifting between controlled and automatic processing, rather than increasing executive (top-down) control. In the proposed research, we will use MEG functional imaging of brain activity during rapid motor response tasks in order to reveal the temporal organization of neural activity that indexes periods of automatic responding, and intrusions of controlled processes during rapid response selection and error processing. We will use a novel combination of kinematic measures and MEG to measure brain activity during goal-directed (reaching) tasks to separate cortical activity related to response selection, initiation, and inhibitory control, and identify specific time points at which controlled processing overrides automatic responses. We will also examine the relationship between periods of automatic responding or off-task mental states and activation of brain networks associated with internalized thought (e.g., "default-mode") during both successful response switching and failed inhibition. This will be achieved using established methods such as self-report probe trials, in addition to unique measures of pupil diameter as an index of fluctuations in attentional control. These studies will allow us to determine whether, in addition to attentional lapses leading to performance errors, such brain states can also reflect periods of accurate performance with minimal executive control, and further, whether there are differences in brain responses signaling early (unconscious) error detection and post-error adjustments during periods of varying automatic control. In a final phase of the project, we plan to adapt our response inhibition tasks to studies in children, with the goal of studying the maturation of controlled and automatic processing with development. This will enhance our understanding of both normal cognitive development and deficits of cognitive control prevalent in many developmental disorders, and provide novel insights into the role of automaticity in human behavior across the lifespan.

传统上，对人类认知的研究集中在执行控制和绩效监控上 - 需要记忆，注意力和心理努力的过程。但是，我们的日常生活包括广泛的行为曲目，这些行为几乎没有意识地指导自动进行，并且对“自动性”在认知控制和行动中的作用长期存在兴趣。较高大脑功能的双过程理论正阳性两个独立的认知系统 - 一种有意识和反射性的，另一种自动和反思性 - 指导我们的决策和行动。这两种类型的控制可能受到不同皮质网络的调节，这些网络必须在快速响应和选择适当响应的竞争要求下无缝相互作用。同样，错误检测通常是一个快速且高度自动的过程，但是对我们错误的有意识意识对于学习和加强适当的行为至关重要。实验室任务涉及对意外事件的快速运动响应可以揭示认知控制的许多方面，但是迄今为止，尚未确切揭示这两种控制类型之间的过渡是如何以及何时发生的。在先前的研究中，我们已经表明，在需要快速响应和抑制的任务过程中，自动和受控过程并行激活，并且与意识降低相关的响应并不总是与性能下降有关。此外，几项研究表明，任务绩效的改善与响应变异性降低相关，而不是响应减慢。这使我们提出了一个普遍的假设：改善的性能（例如，更好的抑制性控制）与受控和自动处理之间的最佳转移密切相关，而不是增加执行（自上而下）的控制。 在拟议的研究中，我们将在快速运动响应任务期间使用MEG功能成像，以揭示神经元活动的临时组织，该神经元活动索引了自动响应时期，以及在快速响应选择和错误处理过程中受控过程的侵入。我们将使用运动学测量和MEG的新型组合来测量目标指导（达到）任务期间的大脑活动，以分离与响应选择，启动和抑制性控制有关的皮质活动，并确定受控处理超出自动响应的特定时间点。我们还将在成功响应切换和抑制失败期间，研究自动响应或任务外心理状态的时期与内部思维（例如“默认模式”）相关的大脑网络之间的关系。除了独特的瞳孔直径度量作为注意控制中波动的指数外，还将使用诸如自我报告探测试验之类的既定方法来实现这一点。这些研究将使我们能够确定除了引起性能错误的注意力失误外，此类大脑状态还可以反映出通过最小的执行控制的准确性能，进一步，大脑反应在更早的（无意识）误差（无意识）误差（无意识）的误差和越野后调整差异。在该项目的最后阶段，我们计划将我们的反应抑制任务调整为儿童研究，以研究随着发展和自动处理的成熟。这将增强我们对正常认知发展的理解，并定义了许多发育障碍中普遍存在的认知控制，并为自动性在整个生命周期中的人类行为中的作用提供了新的见解。