Behavioral Activation System modulation of brain activity during task switching

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the relationship between individual differences in Behavioral Activation System (BAS) sensitivity and brain activity during task switching. BAS sensitivity was hypothesized to modulate activity in brain regions involved in cognitive flexibility, including anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus and striatum. Twenty-eight healthy participants underwent fMRI while performing a switching task devised by Barcelo et al. (2008). BAS sensitivity was measured with the Sensitivity to Reward (SR) scale from the SPSRQ (Torrubia et al., 2001). The task yielded the expected behavioral switch costs and brain activity in fronto-striatal regions associated with the switching cue. SR scores were negatively associated with brain activity during task switching in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate and right anterior insula. These results indicate that BAS sensitivity may modulate cognitive processes occurring in brain areas commonly involved in attention, working memory and cognitive flexibility.