Abstract
BackgroundFor optimal performance in conflict situations, conflict adaptation (conflict detection and adjustment) is necessary. However, the neural dynamics of conflict adaptation is still unclear.MethodsIn the present study, behavioral and electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded from seventeen healthy participants during performance of a color-word Stroop task with a novel look-to-do transition. Within this transition, participants looked at the Stroop stimuli but no responses were required in the ‘look’ trials; or made manual responses to the Stroop stimuli in the ‘do’ trials.ResultsIn the ‘look’ trials, the amplitude modulation of N450 occurred exclusively in the right-frontal region. Subsequently, the amplitude modulation of sustained potential (SP) emerged in the posterior parietal and right-frontal regions. A significantly positive correlation between the modulation of reconfiguration in the ‘look’ trials and the behavioral conflict adaptation in the ‘do’ trials was observed. Specially, a stronger information flow from right-frontal region to posterior parietal region in the beta band was observed for incongruent condition than for congruent condition. In the ‘do’ trials, the conflict of ‘look’ trials enhanced the amplitude modulations of N450 in the right-frontal and posterior parietal regions, but decreased the amplitude modulations of SP in these regions. Uniquely, a stronger information flow from centro-parietal region to right-frontal region in the theta band was observed for iI condition than for cI condition.ConclusionAll these findings showed that top-down conflict adaptation is implemented by: (1) enhancing the sensitivity to conflict detection and the adaptation to conflict resolution; (2) modulating the effective connectivity between parietal region and right-frontal region.
Highlights
Cognitive control is the basis of goal-directed behaviors, through which people can effectively utilize the limited cognitive resources to optimize the performance, especially when facing difficulty or interference [1,2]
In terms of the popular conflict monitoring model [10], cognitive control consists of two basic components: evaluation of conflict occurrence and regulation of control, which have been universally acknowledged in the relevant studies
To clarify whether event-related potentials (ERPs) modulations in the ‘look’ trials predicted behavioral conflict adaptation in the post-‘look’ ‘do’ trials, we examined the correlations between the amplitudes of N450(I–C), sustained potential (SP)(I–C) in the ‘look’ trials and the response time (RT)(cI–cC)–(iI–iC) [57,58,59] in the post-‘look’ ‘do’ trials by conducting the Pearson’s correlation analysis [60,61]
Summary
Cognitive control is the basis of goal-directed behaviors, through which people can effectively utilize the limited cognitive resources to optimize the performance, especially when facing difficulty or interference [1,2]. Often used to investigate the cognitive and neural mechanisms of cognitive control, refers to the conflict-driven sequential modulations of congruency effects in congruency task, e.g., Stroop task [3]. Conflict adaptation may be confounded by the antergic influence from bottom-up repetition priming [5,6], as a top-down modulation, it will occur under appropriate experimental environments [7,8,9]. With regard to the neural architecture of cognitive control, three brain areas have been implicated: the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) (see [14] for an overall review). The neural dynamics of conflict adaptation is still unclear
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
