Role In Goal-directed Behavior Research Articles

Mental simulation across sensory modalities predicts attractiveness of food concepts.

Concepts are grounded in mental simulation of sensory information, but the exact role it plays in everyday cognition is unknown. Here, we investigate its role in an important conceptual domain relevant for everyday behavior-food. We conducted two preregistered studies to test whether multimodal mental simulation is linked to attractiveness of food concepts. In Study 1, using the Lancaster Sensorimotor norms for a variety of concepts, we found unhealthy food concepts are more strongly associated with gustation, olfaction, and interoception than healthy food concepts. Importantly, these associations mediated the relationship between food healthiness and food attractiveness. In Study 2, we collected new sensory ratings with food words only and found unhealthy food concepts were more strongly associated with all perceptual modalities than healthy food concepts. Again, these associations mediated the relationship between healthiness and attractiveness. The mediating role of sensory associations to food attractiveness was also affected by context. Specifically, when participants thought about food in an eating context cued by verbal instruction, mediation by perceptual strength was weaker. Overall, we find multimodal sensory experience underlies people's belief that unhealthy food is more attractive than healthy food. This suggests mental simulation has an important role in goal-directed behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual-subject Functional Localization Increases Univariate Activation but Not Multivariate Pattern Discriminability in the "Multiple-demand" Frontoparietal Network.

The frontoparietal "multiple-demand" (MD) control network plays a key role in goal-directed behavior. Recent developments of multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) for fMRI data allow for more fine-grained investigations into the functionality and properties of brain systems. In particular, MVPA in the MD network was used to gain better understanding of control processes such as attentional effects, adaptive coding, and representation of multiple task-relevant features, but overall low decoding levels have limited its use for this network. A common practice of applying MVPA is by investigating pattern discriminability within a ROI using a template mask, thus ensuring that the same brain areas are studied in all participants. This approach offers high sensitivity but does not take into account differences between individuals in the spatial organization of brain regions. An alternative approach uses independent localizer data for each subject to select the most responsive voxels and define individual ROIs within the boundaries of a group template. Such an approach allows for a refined and targeted localization based on the unique pattern of activity of individual subjects while ensuring that functionally similar brain regions are studied for all subjects. In the current study, we tested whether using individual ROIs leads to changes in decodability of task-related neural representations as well as univariate activity across the MD network compared with when using a group template. We used three localizer tasks to separately define subject-specific ROIs: spatial working memory, verbal working memory, and a Stroop task. We then systematically assessed univariate and multivariate results in a separate rule-based criterion task. All the localizer tasks robustly recruited the MD network and evoked highly reliable activity patterns in individual subjects. Consistent with previous studies, we found a clear benefit of the subject-specific ROIs for univariate results from the criterion task, with increased activity in the individual ROIs based on the localizers' data, compared with the activity observed when using the group template. In contrast, there was no benefit of the subject-specific ROIs for the multivariate results in the form of increased discriminability, as well as no cost of reduced discriminability. Both univariate and multivariate results were similar in the subject-specific ROIs defined by each of the three localizers. Our results provide important empirical evidence for researchers in the field of cognitive control for the use of individual ROIs in the frontoparietal network for both univariate and multivariate analysis of fMRI data and serve as another step toward standardization and increased comparability across studies.

Dissociating expectancy-based and experience-based control in task switching.

The ability to switch tasks flexibly plays a critical role in goal-directed behavior. The present study tested the hypothesis that task switching is subject to higher-level "metacontrol" regulation that is reflected, for example, in contextual influences on switching efficiency, such as the global probability of task switches. This hypothesis was tested in 5 experiments using an instruction manipulation to dissociate expectancy-based control from experience-based practice effects: Participants' beliefs about switch probability were manipulated across trial sequences via explicit instruction, while objective frequency was matched for a subset of sequences. The behavioral results of Experiments 1-3 indicated that instruction played a role above experience in modulating task switching efficiency, and that this effect was motivation-dependent. Experiment 4 used electroencephalogram (EEG) methods to characterize the mechanism by which instructions affected processing via established event-related potential and oscillatory markers of task preparation. Experiment 5 demonstrated that the influence of instructions extended to participants' voluntary task choices. Collectively, the present findings demonstrate that instruction-induced expectancy prompts the adoption of distinct metacontrol modes across sequences, but does not modulate trial-by-trial, task-specific motor preparation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Hippocampus-nidopallium caudolaterale interactions exist in the goal-directed behavior of pigeon

Avian hippocampus (Hp) and nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) are believed to play key roles in goal-directed behavior. However, it is still unclear whether there are interactions between the two brain regions in the goal-directed behavior of pigeons. To investigate the interactions between the Hp and the NCL in the goal-directed behavior, we recorded local field potential (LFP) signals from the two regions simultaneously when the pigeons performed a goal-directed decision-making task. Amplitude-amplitude coupling analysis revealed that the coupling value between the LFP recorded from the Hp and that from the NCL increased significantly (P < 0.05) in slow gamma-band (40–60 Hz) during the turning area. In addition, the LFP functional network analysis demonstrated the LFP functional connections between the Hp and the NCL increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the turning area. The result of partial directed coherence (PDC) analysis showed that the predominant direction of information flow is thought to be from the Hp to the NCL. These findings suggest that there are causal functional interactions between the Hp and the NCL by which information is transmitted between the two regions relevant to goal-directed behavior.

A continuous time-resolved measure decoded from EEG oscillatory activity predicts working memory task performance

Objective. Working memory (WM), crucial for successful behavioral performance in most of our everyday activities, holds a central role in goal-directed behavior. As task demands increase, inducing higher WM load, maintaining successful behavioral performance requires the brain to work at the higher end of its capacity. Because it is depending on both external and internal factors, individual WM load likely varies in a continuous fashion. The feasibility to extract such a continuous measure in time that correlates to behavioral performance during a working memory task remains unsolved. Approach. Multivariate pattern decoding was used to test whether a decoder constructed from two discrete levels of WM load can generalize to produce a continuous measure that predicts task performance. Specifically, a linear regression with L2-regularization was chosen with input features from EEG oscillatory activity recorded from healthy participants while performing the n-back task, . Main results. The feasibility to extract a continuous time-resolved measure that correlates positively to trial-by-trial working memory task performance is demonstrated (r = 0.47, p < 0.05). It is furthermore shown that this measure allows to predict task performance before action (r = 0.49, p < 0.05). We show that the extracted continuous measure enables to study the temporal dynamics of the complex activation pattern of WM encoding during the n-back task. Specifically, temporally precise contributions of different spectral features are observed which extends previous findings of traditional univariate approaches. Significance. These results constitute an important contribution towards a wide range of applications in the field of cognitive brain–machine interfaces. Monitoring mental processes related to attention and WM load to reduce the risk of committing errors in high-risk environments could potentially prevent many devastating consequences or using the continuous measure as neurofeedback opens up new possibilities to develop novel rehabilitation techniques for individuals with degraded WM capacity.

Resting GABA concentration predicts inhibitory control during an auditory Go-Nogo task.

Inhibitory control plays an important role in goal-directed behavior. Although substantial inter-individual variability exists in the behavioral performance of response inhibition, the corresponding modulating neurochemical and neurophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between behavioral response inhibition, GABA+ concentrations and automatic sensory gating (SG) in the auditory cortices. We recruited 19 healthy adults to undergo magnetoencephalography, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and behavioral experiments. A paired-stimulus paradigm was used to study SG of the auditory cortices, and an auditory-driven Go-Nogo task was used to evaluate the behavioral response inhibition. Resting GABA+ concentrations were measured in the bilateral superior temporal gyri by means of MRS. Neither GABA+ concentrations nor auditory SG showed significant hemispheric asymmetry. However, an enhanced SG (lower ratio) was found to correlate with improved behavioral inhibition. Moreover, a higher GABA+ concentration was strongly related to improved inhibitory control. These findings highlight the important role of automatic neurophysiological processes and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the prediction of the behavioral performance of inhibitory control.

High reward expectancy during methylphenidate depresses the dopaminergic response to gain and loss.

Dopamine plays an important role in goal-directed behavior, through its modulatory influence on striatal neurons. It is unclear whether tonic dopamine levels, which regulate the vigor of acting, interact with the phasic dopamine response to reward that drives instrumental behavior. In a randomized placebo-controlled study in healthy volunteers, we show that methylphenidate, a drug that increases tonic dopamine levels, systematically reduced striatal phasic BOLD responses to gain and loss in a gambling task as measured with fMRI. It also increased response vigor and reward expectancy-related BOLD signals in the ventral striatum. These findings suggest that striatal tonic dopamine levels constitute an average reward expectation signal that modulates the phasic dopaminergic response to reward. This offers opportunities for treatment of behavioral disorders associated with abnormal reward sensitivity.

Right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex involvement in the integration of emotional processing: Parametric mediation analysis of fMRI

Emotion plays an important role in goal-directed behavior. Although numerous neuroimaging studies have been conducted, the neural mechanisms behind emotion generation and regulation are still elusive. This is partly explained by large individual variations in emotional responses in addition to the fact that emotion is a complex process. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study aimed firstly to specify valence-dependent brain activation, and secondly to clarify the interactions between the regions underlying emotional processing. We measured brain activation in 12 healthy adults while passively viewing affective pictures. The individual valence ratings were negatively correlated with activation in the frontal, parietal, occipital lobes, and in the subcortical regions including the amygdalae. The parametric mediation analysis performed on these regions showed that the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 47) was main mediator of the valence ratings with other regions. Interestingly, there was no mediator region for the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. These results indicated the possibility that the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex mainly participated in the integration of visually induced emotional processes in the valence dimension.

Causal Interactions Within a Frontal-Cingulate-Parietal Network During Cognitive Control: Convergent Evidence from a Multisite-Multitask Investigation.

Cognitive control plays an important role in goal-directed behavior, but dynamic brain mechanisms underlying it are poorly understood. Here, using multisite fMRI data from over 100 participants, we investigate causal interactions in three cognitive control tasks within a core Frontal-Cingulate-Parietal network. We found significant causal influences from anterior insula (AI) to dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in all three tasks. The AI exhibited greater net causal outflow than any other node in the network. Importantly, a similar pattern of causal interactions was uncovered by two different computational methods for causal analysis. Furthermore, the strength of causal interaction from AI to dACC was greater on high, compared with low, cognitive control trials and was significantly correlated with individual differences in cognitive control abilities. These results emphasize the importance of the AI in cognitive control and highlight its role as a causal hub in the Frontal-Cingulate-Parietal network. Our results further suggest that causal signaling between the AI and dACC plays a fundamental role in implementing cognitive control and are consistent with a two-stage cognitive control model in which the AI first detects events requiring greater access to cognitive control resources and then signals the dACC to execute load-specific cognitive control processes.

Reward: From Basic Reinforcers to Anticipation of Social Cues.

Reward processing plays a major role in goal-directed behavior and motivation. On the neural level, it is mediated by a complex network of brain structures called the dopaminergic reward system. In the last decade, neuroscientific researchers have become increasingly interested in aspects of social interaction that are experienced as rewarding. Recent neuroimaging studies have provided evidence that the reward system mediates the processing of social stimuli in a manner analogous to nonsocial rewards and thus motivates social behavior. In this context, the neuropeptide oxytocin is assumed to play a key role by activating dopaminergic reward pathways in response to social cues, inducing the rewarding quality of social interactions. Alterations in the dopaminergic reward system have been found in several psychiatric disorders that are accompanied by social interaction and motivation problems, for example autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, addiction disorders, and schizophrenia.

Are self-efficacy beliefs and subjective task demand related to apathy in aging?

Objective: Apathy, defined as a reduction in voluntary goal-directed behaviors (GDBs), is common in aging, but the processes underlying apathy are still unclear. Self-efficacy beliefs are likely to play a key role in GDBs, by influencing goal setting, perceived difficulty, and the necessary amount of effort to achieve goals. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between apathy and perceived self-efficacy.Method: Sixty-three healthy elderly participants worked on a memory task without fixed performance standard (‘do your best’) and indicated perceived difficulty and effort investment after performing the task. They also completed two short scales assessing general self-efficacy and negative mood. In addition, a close relative of each participant completed the Initiative Interest Scale, a new questionnaire assessing apathetic manifestations in aging.Results: The main results showed that subjective task demand (i.e., perceived difficulty and estimated effort) operated as a mediator between self-efficacy beliefs and apathy. These results suggest that elderly people with low self-efficacy beliefs who face a challenge judge the task to be highly difficult and effort demanding, which might result in GDB reduction.Conclusion: These results shed new light on the processes related to apathy in aging and open up an interesting prospect for psychological interventions.

Susceptibility to Distraction by Social Cues in Borderline Personality Disorder

Background/Aims: Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are highly sensitive to social rejection and show alterations in social perception. Increased susceptibility to social cues in patients with BPD might interfere with executive functions that play an important role in goal-directed behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of task-irrelevant (neutral vs. negatively arousing) social cues on working memory performance in BPD patients compared to healthy controls (HC). Methods: 28 unmedicated female BPD patients and 28 female HC (matched for age and education) performed a Sternberg item recognition task, while being distracted by neutral versus negatively arousing pictures from the International Affective Picture System (interpersonal scenes) and the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces Set (faces). Additionally, self-ratings of aversive inner tension were assessed and correlated with task performance. Results: Compared to HC, BPD patients showed significantly impaired accuracy after distraction by negatively arousing stimuli (both scenes and faces) and neutral faces (but not neutral scenes). Significant negative correlations between overall accuracy and self-reported aversive inner tension were observed in BPD patients. Conclusions: Findings of the present study suggest increased susceptibility to distracting (negatively arousing) social cues in individuals with BPD, which might interfere with cognitive functioning.

Representation of Spatial- and Object-Specific Behavioral Goals in the Dorsal Globus Pallidus of Monkeys during Reaching Movement

The dorsal aspect of the globus pallidus (GP) communicates with the prefrontal cortex and higher-order motor areas, indicating that it plays a role in goal-directed behavior. We examined the involvement of dorsal GP neurons in behavioral goal monitoring and maintenance, essential components of executive function. We trained two macaque monkeys to choose a reach target based on relative target position in a spatial goal task or a target shape in an object-goal task. The monkeys were trained to continue to choose a certain behavioral goal when reward volume was constant and to switch the goals when the volume began to decrease. Because the judgment for the next goal was made in the absence of visual signals, the monkeys were required to monitor and maintain the chosen goals during the reaching movement. We obtained three major findings. (1) GP neurons reflected more of the relative spatial position than the shape of the reaching target during the spatial goal task. During the object-goal task, the shape of the reaching object was represented more than the relative position. (2) The selectivity of individual neurons for the relative position was enhanced during the spatial goal task, whereas the object-shape selectivity was enhanced during the object-goal task. (3) When the monkeys switched the goals, the selectivity for either the position or shape also switched. Together, these findings suggest that the dorsal GP is involved in behavioral goal monitoring and maintenance during execution of goal-oriented actions, presumably in collaboration with the prefrontal cortex.

Adenosine signaling in striatal circuits and alcohol use disorders.

Adenosine signaling has been implicated in the pathophysiology of alcohol use disorders and other psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. Numerous studies have indicated a role for A1 receptors (A1R) in acute ethanol-induced motor incoordination, while A2A receptors (A2AR) mainly regulate the rewarding effect of ethanol in mice. Recent findings have demonstrated that dampened A2AR-mediated signaling in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) promotes ethanol-seeking behaviors. Moreover, decreased A2AR function is associated with decreased CREB activity in the DMS, which enhances goal-oriented behaviors and contributes to excessive ethanol drinking in mice. Interestingly, caffeine, the most commonly used psychoactive substance, is known to inhibit both the A1R and A2AR. This dampened adenosine receptor function may mask some of the acute intoxicating effects of ethanol. Furthermore, based on the fact that A2AR activity plays a role in goal-directed behavior, caffeine may also promote ethanol-seeking behavior. The A2AR is enriched in the striatum and exclusively expressed in striatopallidal neurons, which may be responsible for the regulation of inhibitory behavioral control over drug rewarding processes through the indirect pathway of the basal ganglia circuit. Furthermore, the antagonistic interactions between adenosine and dopamine receptors in the striatum also play an integral role in alcoholism and addiction-related disorders. This review focuses on regulation of adenosine signaling in striatal circuits and the possible implication of caffeine in goal-directed behaviors and addiction.

Differential effects of amygdala, orbital prefrontal cortex, and prelimbic cortex lesions on goal-directed behavior in rhesus macaques.

We assessed the involvement of the orbital prefrontal cortex (PFo), the prelimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex (PL), and the amygdala in goal-directed behavior. Rhesus monkeys were trained on a task in which two different instrumental responses were linked to two different outcomes. One response, called "tap," required the monkeys to repeatedly touch a colored square on a video monitor to produce one kind of food reward. The other response, called "hold," required persistent contact of an identical stimulus, and it produced a different kind of food reward. After training, we assessed the effects of sensory-specific reinforcer devaluation as a way to probe each monkey's use of goal-directed behavior. In this procedure, monkeys were allowed to consume one of the two foods to satiety and were then tested for tap/hold preference under extinction. Unoperated control monkeys showed a reduction in the response associated with obtaining the devalued food, called the "devaluation effect," a hallmark of goal-directed behavior. Monkeys with bilateral lesions of PFo or the amygdala exhibited significantly reduced devaluation effects. Results from monkeys with PL lesions were equivocal. We conclude that both PFo and the amygdala play a significant role in goal-directed behavior in monkeys. Notably, the findings for PFo challenge the idea that orbital and medial prefrontal regions are exclusively dedicated to object- and action-based processes, respectively.

In the Zone or Zoning Out? Tracking Behavioral and Neural Fluctuations During Sustained Attention

Despite growing recognition that attention fluctuates from moment-to-moment during sustained performance, prevailing analysis strategies involve averaging data across multiple trials or time points, treating these fluctuations as noise. Here, using alternative approaches, we clarify the relationship between ongoing brain activity and performance fluctuations during sustained attention. We introduce a novel task (the gradual onset continuous performance task), along with innovative analysis procedures that probe the relationships between reaction time (RT) variability, attention lapses, and intrinsic brain activity. Our results highlight 2 attentional states-a stable, less error-prone state ("in the zone"), characterized by higher default mode network (DMN) activity but during which subjects are at risk of erring if DMN activity rises beyond intermediate levels, and a more effortful mode of processing ("out of the zone"), that is less optimal for sustained performance and relies on activity in dorsal attention network (DAN) regions. These findings motivate a new view of DMN and DAN functioning capable of integrating seemingly disparate reports of their role in goal-directed behavior. Further, they hold potential to reconcile conflicting theories of sustained attention, and represent an important step forward in linking intrinsic brain activity to behavioral phenomena.

Nonlinear relationship between emotional valence and brain activity: evidence of separate negative and positive valence dimensions.

Emotion plays a significant role in goal-directed behavior, yet its neural basis is yet poorly understood. In several psychological models the cardinal dimensions that characterize the emotion space are considered to be valence and arousal. Here 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to reveal brain areas that show valence- and arousal-dependent blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal responses. Seventeen healthy adults viewed pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) for brief 100 ms periods in a block design paradigm. In many brain regions BOLD signals correlated significantly positively with valence ratings of unpleasant pictures. Interestingly, partly in the same regions but also in several other regions BOLD signals correlated negatively with valence ratings of pleasant pictures. Therefore, there were several areas where the correlation across all pictures was of inverted U-shape. Such correlations were found bilaterally in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) extending to anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and insula. Self-rated arousal of those pictures which were evaluated to be unpleasant correlated with BOLD signal in the ACC, whereas for pleasant pictures arousal correlated positively with the BOLD signal strength in the right substantia innominata. We interpret our results to suggest a major division of brain mechanisms underlying affective behavior to those evaluating stimuli to be pleasant or unpleasant. This is consistent with the basic division of behavior to approach and withdrawal, where differentiation of hostile and hospitable stimuli is crucial.

Connexin mRNA expression in single dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra pars compacta

Dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta play a major role in goal-directed behavior and reinforcement learning. The study of their local interactions has revealed that they are connected by electrical synapses. Connexins, the molecular substrate of electrical synapses, constitute a multigenic family of 20 proteins in rodents. The permeability and regulation properties of electrical synapses depend on their connexin composition. Therefore, the knowledge of the molecular composition of electrical synapses is fundamental to the understanding of their specific functions. We have investigated the connexin mRNA expression pattern of dopaminergic neurons by single-cell RT-PCR analysis, during two periods in which dopaminergic neurons are electrically coupled in vitro (P7–P10 and P17–P21). Our results show that dopaminergic neurons express mRNAs of various connexins (Cx26, Cx30, Cx31.1, Cx32, Cx36 and Cx43) in a developmentally regulated manner. Furthermore, we have observed that dopaminergic neurons display different connexin expression patterns, and that multiple connexins can be expressed in a single dopaminergic neuron. These observations underline the importance of electrical coupling in the development of dopaminergic neurons and raise the question of the existence of functionally distinct electrically coupled networks in the substantia nigra pars compacta.