Development of cognitive control part 2

Question 1

A key position for MFC

Answer 1

Areas showing connectivity with the medial frontal cortex
according to DTI analyses

Influence decision making, goaloriented behavior and motor control

Question 2

Medial frontal cortex and attentional hierarchy

Answer 2

Attend to different
dimensions of a visual
stimulus (color, shape,
motion)

Promiinat activation in ACC in divided attention conditon

Question 3

Medial frontal cortex and error detection

Answer 3

Error-Related Negativity

ERP signal emerging
just after initiation of erroneous response

Originates in ACC

Question 4

MFC activity is not limited to errors

Answer 4

Flanker task
* Participants respond by
pressing the key indicated
by the central arrow
* Activity in MFC is higher in
incongruent trials even if
participants do not make
mistakes

Question 5

MFC as response conflict evaluator

Answer 5

Monitoring demands, not error occurrence engage MFC

Conflict monitoring to allocate attentional resources

Question 6

The roles of lateral and medial FC

Answer 6

Lateral PFC task goal

Medial FC monitors and detects reponse conflict

Question 7

Interactions of lateral and medial FC

Answer 7

Correlation of ACC and LPFC
activation across trials

LPFC activation is higher (goal- representation enhanced) following
the detection of incongruency on previous trial.

ACC signal change across trials
ACC signal is reduced if incongruent
trial follows another incongruent trial
(iI, blue) because goal is already strong

Question 8

Interactions of lateral and medial FC

Answer 8

To facilitate attaining a goal, medial and lateral frontal
cortices must cooperate.

Important factors include level of task difficulty and
conflict detection.

Question 9

Response selection and inhibition: age-differences

Answer 9

Ability to voluntarily select a
task-appropriate, goal-directed
response while suppressing a
more compelling but taskinappropriate response

Anti-saccade task: inhibition
of prepotent response

Question 10

The default network: self-reference & mind-wandering

Answer 10

Active during “rest

Reflects self-referential processing

Ensures that we always (even in the absence of external
input) have some idea of what is going on around us
(sentinel hypothesis).

Question 11

The default network: self-reference & mind-wandering

Answer 11

Components
* Prefrontal cortex
* Precuneus (posterior parietal cortex),
* Posterior cingulate cortex,
* Retrosplenial cortex
* TPJ (temporal-parietal junction)
* Medial temporal lobe
* Inferior parietal lobule

Question 12

The default network and goal-directed behavior

Answer 12

dmPFC: activity enached uring daydreams and similar thoughts

Baseline

dmFPC: Activity is attenuated during goal-directed behavoir

Question 13

Default network: functional connectivity in young and older adults

Answer 13

Pairwise-correlation of posterior cingulate cortex and
medial prefrontal cortex activities as two main nodes of
the default network

Question 14

Adult-age related changes in task (dis)engagement

Answer 14

Older adults show REDUCTIONS of task-related deactivation in WM tasks and
weaker connectivity during rest (green regions)

Question 15

The ensemble: unity and diversity of executive functions

Answer 15

Shifting
Updating
Inhibition

Question 16

Executive functions and intelligence

Answer 16

Updating hightste correaltion with crystilized and fluid intelligence

Question 17

The big picture: domain-general functions and their development

Answer 17

Cognitive control describes an ensemble of domain-general functions
*relate to gray + white matter + neurotransmitters
* Brain development follows a sequence from optimizing modality-specific local
networks to optimizing long-range connections between local networks (cortical
thinning, pruning, myelination)
* Development of cognitive control is tied to the myelination of the PFC and its
long-range connections
* Hierarchical structure of the PFC reflects abstractness of goal-representations
* Cognitive control functions overlap, but they also reveal diversity (Myake)
* Cognitive control functions correlate with IQ
* Domain-general functions are involved in all types of learning (IQ=headstart),
but expertise amounts to a gradual de-coupling from domain-general functions

Question 18

Domain-general functions and expertise: a paradox?

Answer 18

Considering the massive age-related changes in cognitive control …
* What does this mean for acquiring expertise during childhood or
adolescence?
* How can expertise possibly be maintained throughout adulthood?
* … or can it?