Monetary Incentives Enhance Processing in Brain Regions Mediating Top-down Control of Attention

Small, Dana M.; Gitelman, Darren R.; Simmons, Katharine B.; Bloise, Suzanne M.; Parrish, Todd B.; Mesulam, Marsel

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhi063

Cited by 233 publications

(211 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The area under the characteristic curve (AUC) represents the strength of the predictive signal. ment in cue utilization is consistent with previous suggestions that it acts as an interface between high-level reward signals and the attentional system (41). Sensory-motor cortices (Fig.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Brain signals for spatial attention predict performance in a motion discrimination task

Sapir

d’Avossa

McAvoy

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

107

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The reliability of visual perception is thought to reflect the quality of the sensory information. However, we show that subjects' performance can be predicted, trial-by-trial, by neural activity that precedes the onset of a sensory stimulus. Using functional MRI (fMRI), we studied how neural mechanisms that mediate spatial attention affect the accuracy of a motion discrimination judgment. The amplitude of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals after a cue directing spatial attention predicted subjects' accuracy on 60 -75% of the trials. Widespread predictive signals, which included dorsal parietal, visual extra-striate, prefrontal and sensory-motor cortex, depended on whether the cue correctly specified the stimulus location. Therefore, these signals indicate the degree of utilization of the cued information and play a role in the control of spatial attention. We conclude that variability in perceptual performance can be partly explained by the variability in endogenous, preparatory processes and that BOLD signals can be used to forecast human behavior.functional MRI ͉ performance variability ͉ cue utilization ͉ reward V isual perception depends on the quality of sensory information and the fidelity of its neural representation. Recent experiments have emphasized the importance of endogenous processes such as attention, working memory, and motor planning, in modulating sensory activity (1-4). Furthermore, current theories and empirical results suggest that the brain maintains an on-line internal representation of the world that is modulated rather than determined by sensory information (5-7).To study the influence of endogenous processes on visual perception, we examined whether preparatory signals related to the voluntary allocation of spatial attention are predictive of subjects' performance in a motion discrimination task. For correlational methods such as functional MRI (fMRI) and single unit recordings, the strongest and most direct link between brain activity and behavior is the trial-to-trial relation between neural signals and choice. The feasibility of this approach has been demonstrated repeatedly in single unit studies (8)(9)(10)(11)(12), where the neuronal response in areas sensitive to motion during a motion discrimination task correlates, on a trial-by-trial basis, with the animal's report. Importantly, this correlation persisted even when there was no net directional signal in the stimulus, suggesting that choice can depend on purely endogenous signals.However, it is largely unknown to what degree endogenous signals that precede stimulus analysis are predictive of performance. Single-unit studies in extra-striate visual areas have failed thus far to show that trial-by-trial variations in neural signals preceding the stimulus bear on performance accuracy (12). In higher-order parietal cortex, the magnitude of the neuronal response correlates on average with the locus of attention, but it is unknown whether it is predictive of performance on a trial-by-trial basis (13). Although several studie...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Brain signals for spatial attention predict performance in a motion discrimination task

Sapir

d’Avossa

McAvoy

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

107

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“…Consistent with our prior work (15), we observed that changing the incentive value of trials had a striking influence on both behavioral performance and neural activity in lateral PFC. Similar findings have also been observed in prior studies examining working memory (30,31) and attentional tasks (32). Our findings indicated that reward-and penalty-based incentives had very distinct effects on behavior and brain activity during the AX-CPT.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Flexible neural mechanisms of cognitive control within human prefrontal cortex

Braver

Paxton

Locke

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

576

677

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A major challenge in research on executive control is to reveal its functional decomposition into underlying neural mechanisms. A typical assumption is that this decomposition occurs solely through anatomically based dissociations. Here we tested an alternative hypothesis that different cognitive control processes may be implemented within the same brain regions, with fractionation and dissociation occurring on the basis of temporal dynamics. Regions within lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) were examined that, in a prior study, exhibited contrasting temporal dynamics between older and younger adults during performance of the AX-CPT cognitive control task. The temporal dynamics in younger adults fit a proactive control pattern (primarily cue-based activation), whereas in older adults a reactive control pattern was found (primarily probebased activation). In the current study, we found that following a period of task-strategy training, these older adults exhibited a proactive shift within a subset of the PFC regions, normalizing their activity dynamics toward young adult patterns. Conversely, under conditions of penalty-based monetary incentives, the younger adults exhibited a reactive shift some of the same regions, altering their temporal dynamics toward the older adult baseline pattern. These experimentally induced crossover patterns of temporal dynamics provide strong support for dual modes of cognitive control that can be flexibly shifted within PFC regions, via modulation of neural responses to changing task conditions or behavioral goals.dorsolateral PFC ͉ event-related fMRI ͉ inhibition ͉ interference control ͉ working memory

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“…Such scarce evidence contrasts with the psychophysiological studies showing enhanced P300 when processing reward cues and outcomes (Parvaz et al 2012;van Lankveld and Smulders 2008;Yeung and Sanfey 2004), and with functional connectivity studies showing increased coupling between the parietal and striatal areas in the presence of reward cues (Padmala and Pessoa 2011). Furthermore, fMRI studies using attentional paradigms have revealed the greater involvement of the fronto-parietal areas when processing rewarding stimuli that compete with other stimuli (Small et al 2005;Locke and Braver 2008;Mohanty et al 2008;Engelmann et al 2009;Ivanov et al 2011). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

A new window to understanding individual differences in reward sensitivity from attentional networks

et al. 2014

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Revista:Brain Structure and Function, 2014 Abstract:Existing evidence suggests that the presence of reward cues modifies the activity in attentional networks; however, the nature of these influences remains poorly understood. Here, we performed independent component analysis (ICA) in two fMRI datasets corresponding to two incentive delay tasks, which compared the response to reward (money and erotic pictures) and neutral cues, and yielded activations in the ventral striatum using a General Linear Model approach. Across both experiments, ICA revealed that both the right frontoparietal network and default mode network time courses were positively and negatively modulated by reward cues, respectively.Moreover, this dual neural response pattern was enhanced in individuals with strong reward sensitivity. Therefore, ICA may be a complementary tool to investigate the relevant role of attentional networks on reward processing, and to investigate reward sensitivity in normal and pathological populations.

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Monetary Incentives Enhance Processing in Brain Regions Mediating Top-down Control of Attention

Cited by 233 publications

References 57 publications

Brain signals for spatial attention predict performance in a motion discrimination task

Brain signals for spatial attention predict performance in a motion discrimination task

Flexible neural mechanisms of cognitive control within human prefrontal cortex

A new window to understanding individual differences in reward sensitivity from attentional networks

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