Chapter 12: Cognitive Control Flashcards
Action-outcome
Book definition: “When there is a causal relationship between the action and the reward. (p. 511)”
Action-outcome decision
Book definition: “A decision that involves some form of evaluation (not necessarily conscious) of the expected outcomes. (p. 521)”
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
Book definition: “Anterior portion of the cingulate cortex, located below the frontal lobe along the medial surface. This region is characterized by a primitive cytoarchitecture (three-layered cortex) and is part of the interface between the frontal lobe and the limbic system. The anterior cingulate cortex is implicated in various executive functions, such as response monitoring, error detection, and attention. (p. 550)”
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a role in monitoring conflict (and, by extension, error detection), as demonstrated by its activation during Stroop tasks (e.g., a conflict arises when the word “RED” is shown in green, but the participant must only report the color). Error-related negativity (ERN) during EEG has likewise been linked to the ACC.
Damage to or abnormal function of the ACC can result in deficits to cognitive control, with links being drawn to emotional instability, inattention, OCD, problems detecting errors, difficulty in resolving conflict, and schizophrenia.
Cognitive control
Book definition: “Processes that facilitate information processing. Control operations are thought to help coordinate activity across different neural regions; for example, the representation of a current goal in the prefrontal cortex can help control the retrieval of information in long-term memory. See also executive function. (p. 508)”
Cognitive control (also referred to as executive function) is, in essence, the aspects of higher thinking that makes us human. It is our ability to set aside automatic or habitual responses and instead ‘use our heads’ to consider previous knowledge and simulate potential outcomes of decisions before making them.
Areas involved in cognitive control include:
- The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), involved in working memory and response selection.
- The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), involved in monitoring appropriate behavior.
- The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), involved in error detection and attention.
These areas are essential for socially appropriate and goal-oriented behavior, as demonstrated by patients suffering from damage to them. Cases include:
- Phineas Gage, whose damaged prefrontal lobe allegedly changed his personality to more aggressive, crude and vulgar.
- Patient W.R., who ‘lost his ego’ and ability to make goal-oriented actions to achieve future goals, following a tumor in his lateral prefrontal cortex.
- An unnamed patient with frontal lobe damage, whose utilization behavior resulted in spontaneously hanging a picture on a wall when walking past a hammer, nail, and picture frame – and unquestioningly jabbing his own doctor in the bum with a needle, when a needle was present and the doctor pulled his pants down and turned his back to the patient.
Delayed-response task
Book definition: “A task in which the correct response must be produced after a delay period of several seconds. Such tasks require the operation of working memory because the animal or person must maintain a record of the stimulus information during the delay period. (p. 512)”
Animals with lesions to the prefrontal cortex do poorly on this task, as they can no longer hold the location of the stimulus, e.g. food, in their working memory. On the other hand, if a visual cue indicates the correct location each time, the animals have no problem forming associative memories and choosing the correct location after a delay.
Descriptive decision theory
Book definition: “Theories that attempt to describe what people actually do, not what they should do. (p. 521)”
Description theory is the study of reasoning underlying an agent’s choices, and can be divided into two parts: normative decision theory, which describes how to make the best possible, logical decision, and descriptive decision theory, which describes how irrational agents, such as humans, actually make decisions.
Dopamine
Book definition: “An organic chemical amine that in the brain functions as a neurotransmitter. It is formed from L-DOPA by removing a carboxyl group. (p. 510)”
The chemical dopamine is responsible for several functions in the brain:
- The ventral tegmental area projects dopaminergic neurons to the prefrontal cortex via the mesocortical pathway and to the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and hippocampus via the mesolimbic pathway. These are responsible for the regulation of memory, reward, motivation, and addiction.
- The substantia nigra projects to the striatum via the nigrostriatal pathway, and is involved in motor control. In Parkinson’s disease, the cell-death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra is responsible for loss of fine motor control.
Dynamic filtering
Book definition: “The hypothesis that a key component of working memory involves the selection of information that is most relevant, given the current task demands. This selection is thought to be accomplished through the filtering, or exclusion of, potentially interfering and irrelevant information. (p. 535)”
Error-related negativity (ERN)
Book definition: “An electrical signal that is derived from the EEG record following an erroneous response. The ERN is seen as a prominent negative deflection in the ERP, and it is hypothesized to originate in the anterior cingulate. (p. 552)”
Error-related negativity (ERN) is a component of electrical activity (event-related potential (ERP)) measured during an electroencephalogram (EEG). ERNs are measured when a participant makes a mistake in a task. This is observable even when they are not explicitly aware of making the error, although unconscious errors result in a reduced ERN.
Frontal pole
Book definition: “The most anterior part of the prefrontal cortex, including area 10 and parts of area 9. This region is hypothesized to play a critical role in the hierarchical representation of action goals. (p. 509)”
The role of the frontal pole is still poorly understood, but current theories suggests that it may work as a sort of ‘supervisor’ or ‘conductor’, allowing us to keep track of and simultaneously engage in multiple tasks.
It has been suggested that the frontal pole plays the role of central executive in Baddeley’s model of working memory; in this model, a central executive function controls and supervises the phonological loop (i.e. audial working memory) and the visuospatial sketchpad (i.e. visual working memory).
Goal-oriented action
Book definition: “Actions that are planned and produced to achieve a particular result. Goal-oriented actions stand in contrast to more habitually or stimulus driven behavior and are strongly under the control of reinforcement. (p. 511)”
Goal-oriented behavior
Book definition: “Behavior that allows us to interact in the world in a purposeful manner. Goals reflect the intersection of our internal desires and drives, coupled with the current environmental context. (p. 508)”
Habit
Book definition: “A response that is under stimulus control. Habits are formally defined as behaviors that occur independently of reinforcement. For example, if the reward is no longer given to a stimulus, the persistent response is referred to as a habit. (p. 511)”
Inhibitory control
Book definition: “The hypothesis that one aspect of executive functions is the regulation of habitual responses or environmentally dictated actions by active inhibition. A loss of inhibitory control is assumed to underlie the tendency of some patients with prefrontal lesions to produce socially inappropriate behavior. (p. 541)”
Lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC)
Book definition: “The region of the cerebral cortex that lies anterior to Brodmann area 6, along the lateral surface. This region has been implicated in various executive functions, such as working memory and response selection. (p. 509)”
The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) includes both the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and is heavily involved in executive functions, including working memory, decision-making, and planning.
Damage to this area results in deficits to cognitive control as well as social cognition and behavior.
Medial frontal cortex (MFC)
Book definition: “The medial region of the frontal cortex that includes parts of areas 24, 32, and inferior aspects of 6 and 8. The medial frontal cortex is associated with cognitive control – in particular, monitoring functions for error detection and resolving conflict. (p. 509)”
Mesocortical pathway
Book definition: “A path through which dopaminergic projections travel to reach the neocortex. (p. 526)”
The mesocortical pathway is a path from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the prefrontal cortex by which dopaminergic neurons are projected. The VTA also projects dopaminergic neurons to the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and hippocampus via the mesolimbic pathway.
The dopamine projected from the VTA is a neurotransmitter responsible for the regulation of memory, reward, motivation, addiction, and more.
Normative decision theory
Book definition: “A theory of how actions are selected in which the basic premise is that the agent makes the optimal choice, having considered the possible rewards and costs associated with each option. (p. 520)”
Description theory is the study of reasoning underlying an agent’s choices, and can be divided into two parts: normative decision theory, which describes how to make the best possible, logical decision, and descriptive decision theory, which describes how irrational agents, such as humans, actually make decisions.
Nucleus accumbens
Book definition: “The ventral part of the striatum, one of the nuclei of the basal ganglia. The nucleus accumbens is associated with the reward system of the brain, showing changes in activity in response to both primary and secondary reinforcers. (p. 526)”
The brain’s reward system is driven by the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) projects such dopaminergic neurons to the nucleus accumbens via the mesolimbic pathway, regulating reward, addiction, and more.
Orbitofrontal cortex
Book definition: “A region of the frontal lobe, located above the orbits of the eyes, that is implicated in a range of functions, including perceptual processes associated with olfaction and taste, as well as those associated with monitoring whether one’s behavior is appropriate. (p. 509)”
Anatomically synonymous with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Damage to the orbitofrontal cortex can lead to several impairments related to social cognition – e.g. perseveration, the repetition of a particular response, such as a word or gesture, long after the stimulus which provoked it has ceased.
Prediction error
Book definition: “A theoretical construct in theories of reinforcement learning that is defined as the difference between an expected and actual outcome or reward. If the reward is greater than expected, a positive prediction occurs which can be used to increase the likelihood of the behavior. If the reward is less than expected, the negative prediction can be used to decrease the likelihood of the behavior. (p. 527)”
In the brain, a type of prediction error may be seen in the release of dopamine following a reward. If a previously learned cue indicating a reward is presented and no actual reward follows, a drop in dopamine can be registered.
Ventral tegmental area (VTA)
Book definition: “A part of the dopamine system. Dopaminergic neurons originating here project through either the mesolimbic pathway, or the mesocortical pathway. (p. 510)”
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) projects dopaminergic neurons to the prefrontal cortex via the mesocortical pathway and to the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and hippocampus via the mesolimbic pathway.
Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, is responsible for the regulation of memory, reward, motivation, and addiction. As such, the VTA is a key component of the reward system of the brain.
Working memory
Book definition: “Transient representations of task-relevant information. These representations may be related to information that has just been activated from long-term memory or something recently experienced. Representations in working memory guide behavior in the present, constituting what has been called, “the blackboard of the mind.” See also short-term memory. (p. 512)”
According to Baddeley’s theory, working memory is composed of a phonological loop (or “inner voice”), a visuospatial sketchpad (or “mind’s eye”), and a central executive (the “you” experiencing it).
Working memory is not to be confused with short-term memory, which is information readily and only temporarily available, but not necessarily actively attended to.
