Internal and external information in error processing

The use of self-generated and externally provided information in performance monitoring is reflected by the appearance of error-related and feedback-related negativities (ERN and FRN), respectively. Several authors proposed that ERN and FRN are supported by similar neural mechanisms residing in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. The present study is aimed to test the functional relationship between ERN and FRN. Using an Eriksen-Flanker task with a moving response deadline we tested 17 young healthy subjects. Subjects received feedback with respect to their response accuracy and response speed. To fulfill both requirements of the task, they had to press the correct button and had to respond in time to give a valid response.

Results

When performance monitoring based on self-generated information was sufficient to detect a criterion violation an ERN was released, while the subsequent feedback became redundant and therefore failed to trigger an FRN. In contrast, an FRN was released if the feedback contained information which was not available before and action monitoring processes based on self-generated information failed to detect an error.

Conclusions

The described pattern of results indicates a functional interrelationship of response and feedback related negativities in performance monitoring.

Internal and external information in error processing.
Marcus Heldmann, Jascha Ruesseler and Thomas F Muente.
BMC Neuroscience 2008, 9:33doi:10.1186/1471-2202-9-33

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/9/33/abstract

Cortical Connections of Area V4 in the Macaque

To determine the locus, full extent, and topographic organization of cortical connections of area V4 (visual area 4), we injected anterograde and retrograde tracers under electrophysiological guidance into 21 sites in 9 macaques. Injection sites included representations ranging from central to far peripheral eccentricities in the upper and lower fields. Our results indicated that all parts of V4 are connected with occipital areas V2 (visual area 2), V3 (visual area 3), and V3A (visual complex V3, part A), superior temporal areas V4t (V4 transition zone), MT (medial temporal area), and FST (fundus of the superior temporal sulcus [STS] area), inferior temporal areas TEO (cytoarchitectonic area TEO in posterior inferior temporal cortex) and TE (cytoarchitectonic area TE in anterior temporal cortex), and the frontal eye field (FEF). By contrast, mainly peripheral field representations of V4 are connected with occipitoparietal areas DP (dorsal prelunate area), VIP (ventral intraparietal area), LIP (lateral intraparietal area), PIP (posterior intraparietal area), parieto-occipital area, and MST (medial STS area), and parahippocampal area TF (cytoarchitectonic area TF on the parahippocampal gyrus). Based on the distribution of labeled cells and terminals, projections from V4 to V2 and V3 are feedback, those to V3A, V4t, MT, DP, VIP, PIP, and FEF are the intermediate type, and those to FST, MST, LIP, TEO, TE, and TF are feedforward. Peripheral field projections from V4 to parietal areas could provide a direct route for rapid activation of circuits serving spatial vision and spatial attention. By contrast, the predominance of central field projections from V4 to inferior temporal areas is consistent with the need for detailed form analysis for object vision.






Cortical Connections of Area V4 in the Macaque.
Leslie G. Ungerleider, Thelma W. Galkin, Robert Desimone, and Ricardo Gattass.
Cerebral Cortex 2008 18(3):477-499; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm061

Lateralized Anterior Cingulate Function during Error Processing and Conflict Monitoring as Revealed by High-Resolution fMRI

Recent studies have reported that functional subdivisions of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) may be selectively responsible for conflict and error-related processing. We examined this claim by imaging ACC activation to correct and erroneous response inhibitions in a GoNogo task. After localizing the ACC cluster in individual subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at standard resolution (2 x 2 x 4 mm3), high-resolution fMRI (1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 mm3) of the ACC was performed in a second session to investigate its precise functional anatomy. At standard resolution, and in agreement with previous studies, ACC was activated for correct and incorrect responses, albeit more so for errors. High-resolution maps of activated ACC clusters revealed localized and reproducible foci in 9 out of 10 volunteers. Multisubject analysis suggested a bilateral distribution of error-related processes in ACC, whereas correct inhibitions only seemed to activate ACC in the right hemisphere. Subsequent region of interest analysis largely confirmed the activation maps. Our results contribute toward a better understanding of the microanatomy of ACC and demonstrate the potential of fMRI for mapping the functional architecture of brain regions involved in cognitive tasks at a previously unaccomplished spatial scale.

Lateralized Anterior Cingulate Function during Error Processing and Conflict Monitoring as Revealed by High-Resolution fMRI.
Henry Lütcke and Jens Frahm.
Cerebral Cortex 2008 18(3):508-515; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm090

The Effect of Prior Visual Information on Recognition of Speech and Sounds

To identify and categorize complex stimuli such as familiar objects or speech, the human brain integrates information that is abstracted at multiple levels from its sensory inputs. Using cross-modal priming for spoken words and sounds, this functional magnetic resonance imaging study identified 3 distinct classes of visuoauditory incongruency effects: visuoauditory incongruency effects were selective for 1) spoken words in the left superior temporal sulcus (STS), 2) environmental sounds in the left angular gyrus (AG), and 3) both words and sounds in the lateral and medial prefrontal cortices (IFS/mPFC). From a cognitive perspective, these incongruency effects suggest that prior visual information influences the neural processes underlying speech and sound recognition at multiple levels, with the STS being involved in phonological, AG in semantic, and mPFC/IFS in higher conceptual processing. In terms of neural mechanisms, effective connectivity analyses (dynamic causal modeling) suggest that these incongruency effects may emerge via greater bottom-up effects from early auditory regions to intermediate multisensory integration areas (i.e., STS and AG). This is consistent with a predictive coding perspective on hierarchical Bayesian inference in the cortex where the domain of the prediction error (phonological vs. semantic) determines its regional expression (middle temporal gyrus/STS vs. AG/intraparietal sulcus).

The Effect of Prior Visual Information on Recognition of Speech and Sounds.
Uta Noppeney, Oliver Josephs, Julia Hocking, Cathy J. Price and Karl J. Friston.
Cerebral Cortex 2008 18(3):598-609; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm091

Forgetting as an Active Process: An fMRI Investigation of Item-Method–Directed Forgetting

Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the blood oxygen level–dependent response associated with intentional remembering and forgetting. In an item-method directed forgetting paradigm, participants were presented with words, one at a time, each of which was followed after a brief delay by an instruction to Remember or Forget. Behavioral data revealed a directed forgetting effect: greater recognition of to-be-remembered than to-be-forgotten words. We used this behavioral recognition data to sort the fMRI data into 4 conditions based on the combination of memory instruction and behavioral outcome. When contrasted with unintentional forgetting, intentional forgetting was associated with increased activity in hippocampus (Broadmann area [BA] 35) and superior frontal gyrus (BA10/11); when contrasted with intentional remembering, intentional forgetting was associated with activity in medial frontal gyrus (BA10), middle temporal gyrus (BA21), parahippocampal gyrus (BA34 and 35), and cingulate gyrus (BA31). Thus, intentional forgetting depends on neural structures distinct from those involved in unintentional forgetting and intentional remembering. These results challenge the standard selective rehearsal account of item-method directed forgetting and suggest that frontal control processes may be critical for directed forgetting.

Forgetting as an Active Process: An fMRI Investigation of Item-Method–Directed Forgetting.
Glenn R. Wylie, John J. Foxe, Tracy L. Taylor.
Cerebral Cortex 2008 18(3):670-682; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm101

Perceived causality influences brain activity evoked by biological motion

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated brain activity in an observer who watched the hand and arm motions of an individual when that individual was, or was not, the cause of the motion. Subjects viewed a realistic animated 3D character who sat at a table containing four pistons. On Intended Motion trials, the character raised his hand and arm upwards. On Unintended Motion trials, the piston under one of the character's hands pushed the hand and arm upward with the same motion. Finally, during Non-Biological Motion control trials, a piston pushed a coffee mug upward in the same smooth motion. Hand and arm motions, regardless of intention, evoked significantly more activity than control trials in a bilateral region that extended ventrally from the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) region and which was more spatially extensive in the right hemisphere. The left pSTS near the temporal-parietal junction, robustly differentiated between the Intended Motion and Unintended Motion conditions. Here, strong activity was observed for Intended Motion trials, while Unintended Motion trials evoked similar activity as the coffee mug trials. Our results demonstrate a strong hemispheric bias in the role of the pSTS in the perception of causality of biological motion.

Perceived causality influences brain activity evoked by biological motion.
James P. Morris a; Kevin A. Pelphrey a; Gregory McCarthy.
Social Neuroscience 17 July 2007.

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a780679116~db=all~jumptype=rss

Neural activity in the frontal eye fields modulated by the number of alternatives in target choice

Selection of identical responses may not use the same neural mechanisms when the number of alternatives (NA) for the selection changes, as suggested by Hick's law. For elucidating the choice mechanisms, frontal eye field (FEF) neurons were monitored during a color-to-location choice saccade task as the number of potential targets was varied. Visual responses to alternative targets decreased as NA increased, whereas perisaccade activities increased with NA. These modulations of FEF activities seem closely related to the choice process because the activity enhancements coincided with the timing of target selection, and the neural modulation was greater as NA increased, features expected of neural correlates for a choice process from the perspective of Hick's law. Our current observations suggest two novel notions of FEF neuronal behavior that have not been reported previously: (1) cells called "phasic visual" that do not discharge in the perisaccade interval in a delayed-saccade paradigm show such activity in a choice response task at the time of the saccade; and (2) the activity in FEF visuomotor cells display an inverse relationship between perisaccadic activity and the time of saccade triggering with higher levels of activity leading to longer saccade reaction times. These findings support the area's involvement in sensory-motor translation for target selection through coactivation and competitive interaction of neural populations that code for alternative action sets.

Neural activity in the frontal eye fields modulated by the number of alternatives in target choice.
Lee KM, Keller EL.
J Neurosci. 2008 Feb 27;28(9):2242-51.