Novel verbal instructions recruit abstract neural patterns of time-variable information dimensionality.

Human performance is endowed by neural representations of information that is relevant for behavior, some of which are also activated in a preparatory fashion to optimize later execution. Most studies to date have focused on highly practiced actions, leaving largely unaddressed the novel re-configuration of information to generate unique whole task-sets. Using electroencephalography (EEG), this study investigated the dynamics of the content and geometry reflected on the neural patterns of control representations during re-configuration of information.

Proactive selective attention across competition contexts.

Selective attention is a cognitive function that helps filter out unwanted information. Theories such as the biased competition model (Desimone & Duncan, 1995) explain how attentional templates bias processing towards targets in contexts where multiple stimuli compete for resources. However, it is unclear how the anticipation of different levels of competition influences the nature of attentional templates, in a proactive fashion.

Top-down specific preparatory activations for selective attention and perceptual expectations.

Proactive cognition brain models are mainstream nowadays. Within these, preparation is understood as an endogenous, top-down function that takes place prior to the actual perception of a stimulus and improves subsequent behavior. Neuroimaging has shown the existence of such preparatory activity separately in different cognitive domains, however no research to date has sought to uncover their potential similarities and differences.

Achondroplasia in Latin America: practical recommendations for the multidisciplinary care of pediatric patients.

Background: Achondroplasia is the most common bone dysplasia associated with disproportionate short stature, and other comorbidities, such as foramen magnum stenosis, thoracolumbar kyphosis, lumbar hyperlordosis, genu varum and spinal compression. Additionally, patients affected with this condition have higher frequency of sleep disorders, ear infections, hearing loss and slowed development milestones. Considering these clinical features, we aimed to summarize the regional experts' recommendations for the multidisciplinary management of patients with achondroplasia in Latin America, a vast geographic territory with multicultural characteristics and with socio-economical differences of developing countries.

The effect of task demands on the neural patterns generated by novel instruction encoding.

Verbal instructions allow fast and optimal implementation of novel behaviors. Previous research has shown that different control-related variables structure neural activity in frontoparietal regions during the encoding of novel instructed tasks. However, it is uncertain whether different task goals modulate the organizing effect of these variables.

Do Bilinguals Outperform Monolinguals in Switching Tasks? Contrary Evidence for Nonlinguistic and Linguistic Switching Tasks.

The benefits of bilingualism in executive functions are highly debated. Even so, in switching tasks, these effects seem robust, although smaller than initially thought (Gunnerud et al., 2020; Ware et al.

MVPAlab: A machine learning decoding toolbox for multidimensional electroencephalography data.

Background And Objective: The study of brain function has recently expanded from classical univariate to multivariate analyses. These multivariate, machine learning-based algorithms afford neuroscientists extracting more detailed and richer information from the data. However, the implementation of these procedures is usually challenging, especially for researchers with no coding experience.

Neural representations of social valence bias economic interpersonal choices.

Prior personal information is highly relevant during social interactions. Such knowledge aids in the prediction of others, and it affects choices even when it is unrelated to actual behaviour. In this investigation, we aimed to study the neural representation of positive and negative personal expectations, how these impact subsequent choices, and the effect of mismatches between expectations and encountered behaviour.

Multivariate Pattern Analysis Techniques for Electroencephalography Data to Study Flanker Interference Effects.

A central challenge in cognitive neuroscience is to understand the neural mechanisms that underlie the capacity to control our behavior according to internal goals. Flanker tasks, which require responding to stimuli surrounded by distracters that trigger incompatible action tendencies, are frequently used to measure this conflict. Even though the interference generated in these situations has been broadly studied, multivariate analysis techniques can shed new light into the underlying neural mechanisms.

Induced affective states do not modulate effort avoidance.

Recent research reveals that when faced with alternative lines of action, humans tend to choose the less cognitively demanding one, suggesting that cognitive control is intrinsically registered as costly. This idea is further supported by studies showing that the exertion of cognitive control evokes negative affective states. Despite extensive evidence for mood-induced modulations on control abilities, the impact of affective states on the avoidance of cognitive demand is still unknown.

Circadian rhythms and decision-making: a review and new evidence from electroencephalography.

Since emotions and regulatory control are relevant for decision-making, their circadian fluctuation should influence the outcome of such decisions, but this question has been rarely addressed. A review of the literature suggests that the evidence regarding circadian synchrony effects (better performance at optimal vs. non-optimal times of day according to chronotype) on decision-making is mixed, likely due to the use of different approaches to estimate chronotype.

Neural representation of current and intended task sets during sequential judgements on human faces.

Engaging in a demanding activity while holding in mind another task to be performed in the near future requires the maintenance of information about both the currently-active task set and the intended one. However, little is known about how the human brain implements such action plans. While some previous studies have examined the neural representation of current task sets and others have investigated delayed intentions, to date none has examined the representation of current and intended task sets within a single experimental paradigm.

Representational Organization of Novel Task Sets during Proactive Encoding.

Recent multivariate analyses of brain data have boosted our understanding of the organizational principles that shape neural coding. However, most of this progress has focused on perceptual visual regions (Connolly et al., 2012), whereas far less is known about the organization of more abstract, action-oriented representations.

Atlas-Based Classification Algorithms for Identification of Informative Brain Regions in fMRI Data.

Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) has been successfully applied to neuroimaging data due to its larger sensitivity compared to univariate traditional techniques. Searchlight is the most widely employed approach to assign functional value to different regions of the brain. However, its performance depends on the size of the sphere, which can overestimate the region of activation when a large sphere size is employed.

A Network for Computing Value Equilibrium in the Human Medial Prefrontal Cortex.

Humans and other animals make decisions in order to satisfy their goals. However, it remains unknown how neural circuits compute which of multiple possible goals should be pursued (e.g.

Transient and Sustained Control Mechanisms Supporting Novel Instructed Behavior.

The success of humans in novel environments is partially supported by our ability to implement new task procedures via instructions. This complex skill has been associated with the activity of control-related brain areas. Current models link fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks with transient and sustained modes of cognitive control, based on observations during repetitive task settings or rest.

Influence of activation pattern estimates and statistical significance tests in fMRI decoding analysis.

The use of Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA) has increased considerably in recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. A crucial step consists in the choice of a method for the estimation of responses. However, a systematic comparison of the different estimation alternatives and their adequacy to predominant experimental design is missing.

Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Encodes a Latent Estimate of Cumulative Reward.

Humans and other animals accumulate resources, or wealth, by making successive risky decisions. If and how risk attitudes vary with wealth remains an open question. Here humans accumulated reward by accepting or rejecting successive monetary gambles within arbitrarily defined temporal contexts.

Encoding, preparation and implementation of novel complex verbal instructions.

Verbal instructions allow humans to acquire and implement complex novel rules in few seconds. A major question that remains elusive is how the brain represents this information prior to successful task execution. In this experiment, we studied the brain regions involved in representing categorical stimulus information during the encoding of novel instructions, their preparation and also their implementation, as well as the relation of the fidelity of these representations to observable behavior.

Facial identity and emotional expression as predictors during economic decisions.

Two sources of information most relevant to guide social decision making are the cooperative tendencies associated with different people and their facial emotional displays. This electrophysiological experiment aimed to study how the use of personal identity and emotional expressions as cues impacts different stages of face processing and their potential isolated or interactive processing. Participants played a modified trust game with 8 different alleged partners, and in separate blocks either the identity or the emotions carried information regarding potential trial outcomes (win or loss).

Economic decision-making in morning/evening-type people as a function of time of day.

Decision-making is affected by psychological factors like emotional state or cognitive control, which may also vary with circadian rhythmicity. Here, we tested the influence of chronotype (32 morning-type versus 32 evening-type) and time of day (9 a.m.

Cold pressor gel test: A safe alternative to the cold pressor test in fMRI.

Purpose: This study describes a new methodology-the cold pressor gel test (CPGT)-for delivering an accessible experimental pain stimulus, which is reproducible and safe for functional MRI (fMRI).

Methods: The cold pressor test was modified to put safety precautions into the CPGT. The material used is cool gelled water with a thickening product, which provides a stable temperature at 0.

Task-specific preparatory neural activations in low-interference contexts.

How the brain prepares for forthcoming events is a pivotal question in human neuroscience. In the last years, several studies have suggested that expectations of perceiving upcoming stimuli engage relevant perceptual areas. Similarly, some experiments manipulating the task to be performed with targets have also found pre-activations in task-related brain areas.

Unconscious biases in task choices depend on conscious expectations.

Recent studies highlight the influence of non-conscious information on task-set selection. However, it has not yet been tested whether this influence depends on conscious settings, as some theoretical models propose. In a series of three experiments, we explored whether non-conscious abstract cues could bias choices between a semantic and a perceptual task.

Epistemic motivation affects the processing of negative emotional stimuli in interpersonal decisions.

The present electrophysiological study investigated the role of the need for cognitive closure (NFC) in emotional processing. The NFC is conceptualized as an epistemic motive that is related to how and why people seek out information in social environments. Event-related potentials were recorded while individuals with high NFC (i.