Neuronal Mechanisms of Stroop Effect: Neurophysiological and Computational Approach

我们训练两只日本猴子在多维（颜色和随机点运动）视觉刺激下执行选择性注意任务。实验结果表明，在猴子的行为中存在Stroop样的干扰效应，我们在实验心理学杂志（Lauwereyns et al.2000）上报道了这一结果。然后，我们记录了表现良好的猴子的前额叶皮层的单个单位活动。我们的发现如下：1）灵长类外侧前额叶皮层在将感觉信息转换为相关行为信息的过程中起着关键作用; 2）这些过程是分层的; 3）前一阶段是并行的，后一阶段是串行的。从并行到串行的整合过程会产生Stroop型行为干扰。4）这些过程与认知决策过程而不是运动执行过程相关。在记录实验的基础上，我们将GABA激动剂蝇蕈醇（muscimol）微量注射到行为正常的猴子的前额叶皮层，并根据记录结果为我们的假设提供了支持数据。我们现在正在记录这些猴子的扣带皮层的单个单位活动，这往往与动机方面更相关。

We trained two Japanese monkeys to perform a selective attention task with multidimensional (color & random dots motion) visual stimulus. The results revealed Stroop like interference effect in monkeys' behavior, and we reported them in Journal of Experimental Psychology (Lauwereyns et al. 2000). Then we recorded single unit activity from the prefrontal cortex of the behaving monkeys. What we found were followings;1) Primate lateral prefrontal cortex plays critical roles in converting sensory information to the associated behavioral information.2) The processes are hierarchically organized.3) The process in earlier stage is done in parallel and that in later stage, in serial. The integration process from parallel to serial generates the Stroop type interference in behavior.4) These processes are related to cognitive decision-making processes rather than motor execution processes. Adding to the recording experiment, we made microinjection of muscimol (GABA agonist) into the prefrontal cortex of the behaving monkeys and got supporting data for our hypothesis based on recording results. We are now recording single-unit activity from the cingulated cortex of those monkeys, which tends to be more related to motivational aspect.