Abstract
Goal attainment relies in part on one’s ability to maintain a cognitive representation of the desired goal (goal maintenance), monitor the current state vis-à-vis the targeted end state and remain vigilant for lapses in progress (performance monitoring), and inhibit counter-goal behaviors (response inhibition). Because neurocognitive studies have typically examined these three processes in isolation from one another, little is known regarding if and how they interact during goal pursuit. However, these processes frequently co-occur during online, real-world goal pursuit. The present study employed a novel task to investigate how goal maintenance, performance monitoring, and response inhibition interact with one another. We identified functional activations distinct to each of the processes that correspond to results of prior investigations. In addition, we report interactive effects between response inhibition and goal maintenance in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and between performance monitoring and goal maintenance in the superior frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus. Implications for studying the neural systems of in situ goals include the need for both experimental designs that distinguish between process, but also more complex, realistic tasks to begin to map interactions among these neurocognitive processes and how they are altered by the presence or absence of one another.
Highlights
The ability to pursue complex, long-term behavioral goals is one of the hallmarks of human behavior
The present study seeks to explore the neural systems that allow us to succeed in our goals, and to better understand how these systems may change when deployed in combination with others
Research has found that individuals who deliberate on the intermediate steps of goal pursuit such as planning and anticipating roadblocks are more likely to succeed in their goals compared to people who focus only on the outcome [1,2]
Summary
The ability to pursue complex, long-term behavioral goals is one of the hallmarks of human behavior. One way of conceptualizing goal pursuit is as a coordinated suite of basic neurocognitive processes. Research has found that individuals who deliberate on the intermediate steps of goal pursuit such as planning and anticipating roadblocks are more likely to succeed in their goals compared to people who focus only on the outcome [1,2]. Another advantage of unpacking goal pursuit into its basic components is that each one is easier to study alone than the entire process together. Studying component parts is easier in a neuroimaging environment such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
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