Abstract
Event-related potential (ERP) studies using the task-switching paradigm show that multiple ERP components are modulated by activation of proactive control processes involved in preparing to repeat or switch task and reactive control processes involved in implementation of the current or new task. Our understanding of the functional significance of these ERP components has been hampered by variability in their robustness, as well as their temporal and scalp distribution across studies. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of choice of reference electrode or spatial filter on the number, timing and scalp distribution of ERP elicited during task-switching. We compared four configurations, including the two most common (i.e., average mastoid reference and common average reference) and two novel ones that aim to reduce volume conduction (i.e., reference electrode standardization technique (REST) and surface Laplacian) on mixing cost and switch cost effects in cue-locked and target-locked ERP waveforms in 201 healthy participants. All four spatial filters showed the same well-characterized ERP components that are typically seen in task-switching paradigms: the cue-locked switch positivity and target-locked N2/P3 effect. However, both the number of ERP effects associated with mixing and switch cost, and their temporal and spatial resolution were greater with the surface Laplacian transformation which revealed rapid temporal adjustments that were not identifiable with other spatial filters. We conclude that the surface Laplacian transformation may be more suited to characterize EEG signatures of complex spatiotemporal networks involved in cognitive control.
Highlights
Cognitive control processes support the ability to flexibly adapt to changing contextual demands by coordinating the integration of goal-appropriate neural and cognitive resources (Diamond, 2013)
Switch Costs Both average mastoid and common average references produced a pattern of result very consistent with prior studies using these reference configurations
This switch positivity was evident with the common average reference, but was more restricted parietally, evident in Pz but not Cz nor Fz, whereas frontally there emerged a small sustained late switch negativity over 600–1,000 ms
Summary
Cognitive control processes support the ability to flexibly adapt to changing contextual demands by coordinating the integration of goal-appropriate neural and cognitive resources (Diamond, 2013). Performance is characterized by a switch cost, i.e., poorer performance on trials where the task changes as compared to trials where the task repeats and a mixing cost, i.e., poorer performance on repeat trials that are interspersed with switch trials (mixed-task block) compared to a block of repeat trials alone (single-task block). These performance costs are believed to arise from different contextual demands on the cognitive control system. Long CTI conditions can temporally dissociate cue-locked ERPs associated with preparation to switch or repeat from target-locked ERPs associated with implementation of the relevant task set
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