Abstract
Rapid, flexible reconfiguration of connections across brain regions is thought to underlie successful cognitive control. Two intrinsic networks in particular, the cingulo-opercular (CO) and fronto-parietal (FP), are thought to underlie two operations critical for cognitive control: task-set maintenance/tonic alertness and adaptive, trial-by-trial updating. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we directly tested whether the functional connectivity of the CO and FP networks was related to cognitive demands and behavior. We focused on working memory because of evidence that during working memory tasks the entire brain becomes more integrated. When specifically probing the CO and FP cognitive control networks, we found that individual regions of both intrinsic networks were active during working memory and, as expected, integration across the two networks increased during task blocks that required cognitive control. Crucially, increased integration between each of the cognitive control networks and a task-related, non-cognitive control network (the hand somatosensory-motor network; SM) was related to increased accuracy. This implies that dynamic reconfiguration of the CO and FP networks so as to increase their inter-network communication underlies successful working memory.
Highlights
Humans are remarkably adaptable due, in part, to the flexibility with which different brain regions and functional networks are engaged when confronted with a constantly changing environment
To examine how each group map related to the intrinsic CO and FP networks, we focused our analyses on the conjunction between the two
The goal of this study was to examine how the intrinsic CO and FP networks reconfigured during cognitive control and how changes in network organization were beneficial to performance
Summary
Humans are remarkably adaptable due, in part, to the flexibility with which different brain regions and functional networks are engaged when confronted with a constantly changing environment. It has been hypothesized that the pattern of interactions across neural regions is critical for cognition [1,2] These theories emphasize the existence of rapid and transient changes in connections across neurons due to changes in one’s current environment. Brain regions that are functionally connected at rest are thought to reflect an intrinsic state, with the implication that intrinsic connectivity may underlie or predict numerous qualities of an individual, from cognitive ability [7,8,9] to disease state [10] to age [11]. Such intrinsic networks are reliable both within individuals [12] and across populations [13]
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