Cognitive Control in a Continuum: The Cognitive Space Theory

 

Cognitive control refers to the goal-directed mental process by which individuals flexibly allocate cognitive resources to adjust thoughts and behaviors in specific contexts. Traditionally, researchers have largely considered cognitive control as domain-general, implying that the same cognitive processes are employed across different situations. However, accumulating evidence over recent decades supports domain-specificity, resulting in a debate between domain-general and domain-specific theories within the field.

Recent studies suggest that cognitive control may exhibit both general and specific characteristics, which can manifest in different brain regions or through distinct representational formats within the same region. While this hybrid view has reconciled some conflicts, the dichotomy remains problematic. For example, domain-general theories imply potential resource competition across conditions, impacting efficiency. Conversely, domain-specific theories suggest the brain would require an impractical number of specialized mechanisms to handle all real-world scenarios.

This study proposes a novel possibility: cognitive control exists not as a dichotomy but as a continuum, encompassing intermediate states between generality and specificity. This continuum aligns with the "cognitive space" theory, which posits that representations across conditions are continuous and their positions are determined by the similarity relationships between conditions. Thus, we term this new framework the Cognitive Space Theory of Cognitive Control.

To test this theory, we parametrically designed a conflict task, incorporating three intermediate conditions within a spatial Stroop-Simon paradigm. Each condition contained varying degrees of Stroop and Simon conflict components (Figure 1). The five conditions formed a gradient of increasing similarity, allowing us to test whether cognitive control representations are modulated linearly by these parameterized settings.

Figure 1. Experimental Design

We conducted one behavioral and one functional MRI (fMRI) studies to evaluate this hypothesis.

In the first study, conflict adaptation effects between pairs of the five conditions were examined. Conflict adaptation reflects the transferability of cognitive control. The results showed a linear increase in conflict adaptation effects as conflict similarity increased (Figure 2). This indicates that cognitive control exhibits stronger generality when conflicts are similar, stronger specificity when conflicts are dissimilar, and intermediate states in other scenarios.

Figure 2. Conflict Adaptation Effects Increase with Similarity

The second study examined neural representations of the five conflict conditions. Using representational similarity analysis (RSA), the results revealed that in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), neural patterns for similar conflicts were more alike (Figure 3). This finding suggests that cognitive control representations in the DLPFC are parametrically modulated, supporting the core assumption of the cognitive space theory.

 Figure 3. Parametric Representation of Conflicts in the Right DLPFC (r-DLPFC)

The cognitive space framework offers efficient and flexible representational characteristics. On the one hand, it enables a low-dimensional space representation without excessive neural resources while avoiding confusion between different conditions. On the other hand, it facilitates cognitive control transfer during new tasks by identifying representational positions in cognitive space based on similarity to existing tasks.

This research makes several key contributions. First, the cognitive space perspective reconciles the debate between generality and specificity, offering an explanation for prior conflicting evidence. Second, the parameterized design integrating two types of conflicts provides an innovative approach to studying similarity processing in abstract cognitive tasks. Finally, the concept of cognitive space extends beyond cognitive control, with potential applications in understanding learning, decision-making, and treatments for cognitive impairments.

Citation:

Guochun Yang, Haiyan Wu, Qi Li, Xun Liu*, Zhongzheng Fu, Jiefeng Jiang (2024) Dorsolateral prefrontal activity supports a cognitive space organization of cognitive control. eLife 12:RP87126. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.87126.5

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New Account for “Practice Makes Perfect”: Revealing the computational and neural mechanisms of strategy transition

Image
  Substantial practice often leads to efficient and automatic behaviors, a phenomenon commonly referred to as automaticity. Understanding how this is achieved in the brain has been a central topic in psychology. Previous researchers have proposed that practice-induced automaticity involves a shift from implementing rules to using the memory. For example, when first learning the addition algorithm, solving 7+7+7+7 requires step-by-step addition, following the rule; with practice, one may recognize the pattern that four 7s equal 28, and performance begins to rely on memory of this pattern. While the concept of strategy shifting is well-established, when and how the shift occurs has remained unclear. Leveraging advanced computational modeling and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques, we proposed a new account that integrates decision-making into this process. We designed an engaging avatar gear selection task in which participants learned two task sequences an...
Read more

Struggling Control in Unadaptable Scenario

Image
Our cognitive control system is highly flexible, allowing us to quickly adapt to different situations as needed. While cognitive control is effective at resolving a continuous conflict task, it struggles when switching to a different conflict situation. Although this phenomenon has been widely reported, the brain's processing of this phenomenon is not well understood. To investigate this issue, we conducted a spatial Stroop-Simon task, where participants were asked to respond left or right to an up or down arrow, respectively. The arrow could appear at the top, bottom, left, or right of the screen. When the arrow appeared at vertical locations, the location could be compatible or incompatible with the arrow orientation in terms of their semantic processing, leading to the spatial Stroop effects. When the arrow appeared at horizontal locations, the location could be compatible or incompatible with the response, leading to the Simon effects. Participants underwent functional magnetic...
Read more

Comment: How expectation modulates attentional enhancement and inhibition

People receive a large amount of external information every day, and selective attention allows them to prioritize the processing of important information given their limited perceptual capacity. Generally speaking, selective attention can enhance the processing of target stimuli and suppress non-target stimuli. However, people's expectations about information can influence these two regulatory processes. However, the mechanisms by which expectations affect selective enhancement and suppression are not the same. The effect of expectations on enhancement occurs early, and can even enhance the representation of target stimuli before they appear, which is an active form of regulation. Researchers generally agree on this. However, there is much controversy over the processing mechanisms of expected suppression. The mainstream view is that expected suppression is mainly modulated by resonance in the alpha frequency band (8-12 Hz) before the stimulus appears, which is an active form of r...
Read more