Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the implicit association of concepts and attributes

Abstract

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) examines the differential association of two object categories (e.g. flower and insect) with attribute categories (e.g. pleasant and unpleasant). When items from congruent categories (e.g. flower + pleasant) share a response key, performance is faster and more accurate than when items from incongruent categories (e.g. insect + pleasant) share a key. Performing incongruent word classification engages inhibitory processes to overcome the prepotent tendency to map emotionally congruent items to the same response key. Using fMRI on subjects undergoing the IAT, we show that the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and to a lesser extent the anterior cingulate cortex, mediate inhibitory processes where manipulation of word association is required.

Brain imaging of the central executive component of working memory

“…Moreover, they also indicate that similar prefrontal areas are activated by tasks requiring executive processes which at a first sight are quite different. For example, the middle prefrontal gyrus (BA 9/46) was found in manipulation [30,40,98] and updating [103,124] tasks as well as in dual-task coordination [39], inhibition processes [26,31] and shifting processes [102]. Furthermore, the activity of that region was directly linked to the memory load, as demonstrated by Braver et al [17] and Cohen et al [28] using parametric design studies.…”

“…The authors attributed the increase of activity in the left inferior frontal region to processes of interference resolution during retrieval of information in working memory. In another study, Chee et al [26] characterized cerebral areas activated by a task, the Implicit Association Test, which assesses inhibitory processes engaged when participants have to process items with ingrained (as distinct from arbitrary) associations. This task examines the differential association of two object categories (e.g., flower and insect) with two attribute categories (e.g., pleasant and unpleasant).…”

The Quadruple Process model approach to examining the neural underpinnings of prejudice

“…In a second approach, neural activity is examined while participants perform the IAT in the scanner (attitudes toward objects in the natural world: Chee et al, 2000;moral issues: Luo et al, 2006;political issues: Knutson et al, 2006;gender and race: Knutson et al, 2007). As mentioned above, the behavioral measure of bias in an IAT paradigm rests on the discrepancy between reactions in the Incongruent and Congruent conditions.…”

“…In other words, automatic associations may not be expressed because of controlled processing. In order to address the problematic behavioral measurement of automatic aspects of attitudes, a small amount of neural research interested in the neural systems underlying prejudice has drawn on the Implicit Association Test (IAT: Greenwald et al, 1998) (Chee et al, 2000;Cunningham et al, 2004;Knutson et al, 2006;2007;Luo et al, 2006;Phelps et al, 2003;Phelps et al, 2000;Richeson et al, 2003). Although the IAT is one of the most popular behavioral measures of automatic (or implicit) attitudes, particularly for prejudice (Fazio and Olson, 2003), behavioral and modeling research suggests that IAT performance reflects both automatic and controlled processes (Conrey et al, 2005;Sherman et al, 2008).…”

Self-Control Over Automatic Associations

“…At the same time, on trials in which automatic associations and controlled processes compete to determine performance (i.e., incompatible trials), D was associated with activation in both the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Whereas activity in the dACC has been related to detecting confl ict between competing behavioral responses (e.g., Botvinick et al, 1999), activity in the DLPFC has been linked to inhibitory control over pre-potent responses (e.g., Chee et al, 2000;Taylor et al, 1998). Th us, when automatic and controlled processes compete to direct behavior, the D parameter predicts brain activity associated with detecting appropriate behavior among competing responses and inhibiting inappropriate automatic reactions.…”