The human prefrontal cortex (PFC) constitutes the structural basis underlying flexible cognitive control, where mixed-selective neural populations encode multiple task features to guide subsequent behavior. The mechanisms by which the brain simultaneously encodes multiple task-relevant variables while minimizing interference from task-irrelevant features remain unknown. Leveraging intracranial recordings from the human PFC, we first demonstrate that competition between coexisting representations of past and present task variables incurs a behavioral switch cost. Our results reveal that this interference between past and present states in the PFC is resolved through coding partitioning into distinct low-dimensional neural states; thereby strongly attenuating behavioral switch costs. In sum, these findings uncover a fundamental coding mechanism that constitutes a central building block of flexible cognitive control.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220523120 | DOI Listing |
Cureus
January 2025
Department of Research, Department of Regenerative Medicine, Rinaldi Fontani Foundation, Florence, ITA.
An 88-year-old woman presented with a longstanding history of dizziness, tremors, and progressive mental and physical decline, significantly impairing her mobility and autonomy. Recently discharged from an ICU, the patient required extensive support for daily activities. Diagnostic evaluations, including EEG and analysis, revealed irregular frequency peaks and altered cortical activity, particularly in the frontal and prefrontal regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoc Cogn Affect Neurosci
January 2025
School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
Oxytocin, a neuropeptide pivotal in social and reproductive behaviors, has recently gained attention for its potential impact on cognitive processes relevant to creativity. Yet, the direct intricate interplay between oxytocin and creativity, particularly in the context of individual differences in motivational orientations, remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of intranasal oxytocin on creative thinking in individuals characterized by varying levels of approach and avoidance motivations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health (ZI), Medical Faculty Mannheim J5, University of Heidelberg, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
Belief processing and self-referential processing have been consistently associated with cortical midline structures, and cortical regions such as the vmPFC have been implicated in general belief processing. The neural correlates of self-referential belief are yet to be investigated. In this fMRI study, we presented 120 statements with trait adjectives to N = 27 healthy participants, who subsequently judged whether they believed these trait adjectives applied to themselves, a close person, or a public person.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe role of cerebellum in controlling eye movements is well established, but its contribution to more complex forms of visual behavior has remained elusive. To study cerebellar activity during visual attention we recorded extracellular activity of dentate nucleus (DN) neurons in two non-human primates (NHPs). NHPs were trained to read the direction indicated by a peripheral visual stimulus while maintaining fixation at the center, and report the direction of the cue by performing a saccadic eye movement into the same direction following a delay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neuroinflammation
January 2025
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98104, USA.
Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of chronic neurologic disability and a risk factor for development of neurodegenerative disease. However, little is known regarding the pathophysiology of human traumatic brain injury, especially in the window after acute injury and the later life development of progressive neurodegenerative disease. Given the proposed mechanisms of toxic protein production and neuroinflammation as possible initiators or contributors to progressive pathology, we examined phosphorylated tau accumulation, microgliosis and astrogliosis using immunostaining in the orbitofrontal cortex, a region often vulnerable across traumatic brain injury exposures, in an age and sex-matched cohort of community traumatic brain injury including both mild and severe cases in midlife.
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