Computational and neurobiological mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility
Open accessAbstract
The ability to switch between multiple tasks is central to flexible behavior. Although switching between tasks is readily accomplished, a well established consequence of task switching (TS) is behavioral slowing. The source of this switch cost and the contribution of cognitive control to its resolution remain highly controversial. Here, we tested whether proactive interference arising from memory places fundamental constraints on flexible performance, and whether prefrontal control processes contribute to overcoming these constraints. Event-related functional MRI indexed neural responses during TS. The contributions of cognitive control and interference were made theoretically explicit in a computational model of task performance. Model estimates of two levels of proactive interference, "conceptual conflict" and "response conflict," produced distinct preparation-related profiles. Left ventrolateral prefrontal cortical activation paralleled model estimates of conceptual conflict, dissociating from that in left inferior parietal cortex, which paralleled model estimates of response conflict. These computationally informed neural measures specify retrieved conceptual representations as a source of conflict during TS and suggest that left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex resolves this conflict to facilitate flexible performance.
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The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in resolving proactive interference, response set selection, and context monitoring.
“the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) involved in resolving proactive interference, response set selection, and context monitoring (27,28)”
From Brain Mechanisms Supporting Flexible Cognition and Behavior in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [27]
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- Authors
- Badre, D., & Wagner, A. D.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2006-05-02
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 18
- Pages
- 7186-7191
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- OpenAlex
- W2119714841
- Cited by
- 199
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 4.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- cognitive flexibility, task switching, switch costs, proactive interference, cognitive control, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal cortex, conceptual disputes, response conflict
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Computer Simulation, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory, Psychomotor Performance, Task Performance and Analysis, Computational Biology
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