Study: Neural Basis of Cognitive Control over Movement Inhibition: Human fMRI and Primate Electrophysiology Evidence<p>Citation: Xu, Kitty Z.; Anderson, Brian A.; Emeric, Erik E.; Sali, Anthony W.; Stuphorn, Veit; Yantis, Steven; Courtney, Susan M. Elsevier Science Neuron. December 2017.<p>Link: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.11.010" rel="nofollow">https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.11.010</a><p>DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.11.010<p>Summary: Executive control involves the ability to flexibly inhibit or change an action when it is contextually inappropriate. Using the complimentary techniques of human fMRI and monkey electrophysiology in a context-dependent stop signal task, we found a functional double dissociation between the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) and the bi-lateral frontal eye field (FEF). Different regions of rVLPFC were associated with context-based signal meaning versus intention to inhibit a response, while FEF activity corresponded to success or failure of the response inhibition regardless of the stimulus response mapping or the context. These results were validated by electrophysiological recordings in rVLPFC and FEF from one monkey. Inhibition of a planned behavior is therefore likely not governed by a single brain system as had been previously proposed, but instead depends on two distinct neural processes involving different sub-regions of the rVLPFC and their interactions with other motor-related brain regions.<p>Highlights:<p>• A context-dependent stop-signal task with human fMRI and primate neurophysiology<p>• Task design, data types, and analysis methods enable dissociation of system components<p>• Multiple distinct parts of rVLPFC and interactions with other brain areas required<p>• Context-based attention, interpretation, monitoring, but not direct response control
I read the title as "making changes to your mind," such as learning a new skill or breaking a habit.<p>That's not what it means. The article is about reversing a prior decision, aka "changing your mind."
> "Lead author Kitty Xu, formerly a Johns Hopkins graduate student and now a researcher at the social media site Pinterest"<p>Well that's depressing.
> "To confirm their findings, the authors then ran the same experiment on a single macaque."<p>How do you instruct a macaque to stare at black dot?