Neural correlates of cognitive style and flexible cognitive control

Abstract

Human abilities of flexible cognitive control are associated with appropriately regulating the amount of cognitive control required in response to contextual demands. In the context of conflicting situations, for instance, the amount of cognitive control increases according to the level of previously experienced conflict, resulting in optimized performance. We explored whether the amount of cognitive control in conflict resolution was related to individual differences in cognitive style that were determined with the Object–Spatial–Verbal cognitive style questionnaire. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, a version of the color–word Stroop task, which evokes conflict between color and verbal components, was employed to explore whether individual preferences for distracting information were related to the increases in neural conflict adaptation in cognitive control network regions. The behavioral data revealed that the more the verbal style was preferred, the greater the conflict adaptation effect was observed, especially when the current trial type was congruent. Consistent with the behavioral data, the imaging results demonstrated increased neural conflict adaptation effects in task-relevant network regions, including the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left fusiform gyrus, and left precuneus, as the preference for verbal style increased. These results provide new evidence that flexible cognitive control is closely associated with individuals' preference of cognitive style.