Frontoparietal action-oriented codes support novel instruction implementation

Carlos González-García,Silvia Formica,David Wisniewski,Marcel Brass

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117608

Carlos González-García, Silvia Formica + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117608

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Journal: NeuroImage	Publication Date: Nov 30, 2020
Citations: 20	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Ghent University, Brain (Germany)

Abstract

A key aspect of human cognitive flexibility concerns the ability to convert complex symbolic instructions into novel behaviors. Previous research proposes that this transformation is supported by two neurocognitive states: an initial declarative maintenance of task knowledge, and an implementation state necessary for optimal task execution. Furthermore, current models predict a crucial role of frontal and parietal brain regions in this process. However, whether declarative and procedural signals independently contribute to implementation remains unknown. We report the results of an fMRI experiment in which participants executed novel instructed stimulus-response associations. We then used a pattern-tracking procedure to quantify the contribution of format-unique signals during instruction implementation. This revealed independent procedural and declarative representations of novel S-Rs in frontoparietal areas, prior to execution. Critically, the degree of procedural activation predicted subsequent behavioral performance. Altogether, our results suggest an important contribution of frontoparietal regions to the neural architecture that regulates cognitive flexibility.

Highlights

Instruction following constitutes a powerful instance of human cognitive flexibility
We investigated which brain regions were predominantly involved in the selection of instructions from working memory (WM)
We report a pervasive effect of novel instruction implementation across behavioral and neural data

Summary

Introduction

Instruction following constitutes a powerful instance of human cognitive flexibility. The intention to execute an instruction induces automatic motor activation (Everaert et al, 2014; Meiran et al, 2015b) and specific oscillatory features (Formica et al, 2020b), engages different brain regions to coordinate novel stimuli and responses (Demanet et al, 2016; González-García et al, 2017; Hartstra et al, 2011; Palenciano et al, 2019b, 2019a), and alters the neural representation of instructed content in control brain regions, primarily, the frontoparietal network (FPN) (Bourguignon et al, 2018; Muhle-Karbe et al, 2017) These and other findings propose a crucial role of the FPN in the rapid access to and configuration of an implementation stage, a highly efficient task readiness state that support successful execution (Bourguignon et al, 2018; González-García et al, 2017; Hartstra et al, 2011; Muhle-Karbe et al, 2017; Palenciano et al, 2019b, 2019a; Woolgar et al, 2015)

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