Neural correlates of the formation and realization of delayed intentions

Abstract

Prospective memory (PM) can be thought of as the ability to successfully form and later realize intentions that must be delayed over some period of time. In this study, event-related brain potentials were used to explore the neural activity associated with the formation and realization of an intention. Greater negativity over the frontal-polar region was associated with intention formation trials in which the intention was later realized. On PM cue trials, an N300 was associated with the detection of a cue. For PM cue trials, a late positive complex was observed that might have reflected the retrieval of an intention from memory, and a frontal slow wave was observed that might have reflected the activity of a neural system that supported disengagement from the ongoing activity when the cue was detected.

Is detecting prospective cues the same as selecting targets? An ERP study

“…In agreement with predictions derived from the automatic associative and PAM models, work from our laboratory indicates that the amplitude of the N300-a mod-ulation of the ERPs associated with the detection of prospective memory cues West & Ross-Munroe, 2002)-is modulated by the allocation of attention in prospective memory tasks. The N300 is a phasic modulation of the ERPs that peaks 300-400 msec after stimulus onset over the occipital-parietal and frontal regions ) and differentiates prospective memory hits from prospective memory misses and ongoing activity trials (West & Ross-Munroe, 2002).…”

“…Test displays included a fixation cross flanked by two letters. This aspect of the design allowed us to compare the N2pc elicited by targets and the N300 elicited by prospective cues presented in the left or right visual field; further-more, our design differs from those used in previous studies of the N300 in which cues have been presented at fixation, making it difficult to distinguish the N300 from other subcomponents of the N2 (see, e.g., West et al, 2001;West & Ross-Munroe, 2002).…”

“…The N300 is a phasic modulation of the ERPs that peaks 300-400 msec after stimulus onset over the occipital-parietal and frontal regions ) and differentiates prospective memory hits from prospective memory misses and ongoing activity trials (West & Ross-Munroe, 2002). West et al (2001) investigated the influence of attention on the N300 in a study in which individuals were told to ignore highly salient prospective cues for half of the blocks and to make a prospective response when the prospective cues were detected in the remaining blocks.…”

“…In addition to the N300, prospective memory hits elicit a prospective positivity that reflects a sustained modulation over the parietal region of the scalp 600-1,000 msec after stimulus onset (West & Krompinger, in press;West & Ross-Munroe, 2002). The prospective positivity has been dissociated from the P3 component, which is associated with target categorization (West, Wymbs, Jakubek, & Herndon, 2003), and from the recognition old -new effect, which is associated with the retrieval of a previously studied item from memory (West & Krompinger, in press).…”

Event-related potentials indicate motivational relevance of cocaine cues in abstinent cocaine addicts

“…This component is associated with the initial semantic processing of pictorial stimuli (Barrett and Rugg 1990;McPherson and Holcomb 1999;Kounios 2002;West and Holcomb 2002) and direction of attention towards relevant cues (West and Ross-Munroe 2002). Since drug cues require additional attention in drug addicts due to their motivational significance (Franken 2003), it can be assumed that the motivational relevance of cocaine-related stimuli in addictive individuals is already detected at earlier stages of processing.…”