Neural evidence for dissociable components of task-switching

Abstract

The ability to retrieve and flexibly switch between task rules is seen as an important component of cognitive control. It is often assumed that lateral prefrontal cortex (latPFC) is important for switching between rules. However, activation associated with rule-switching is less reliably observed in latPFC than in medial PFC (specifically, pre-supplementary motor area). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that medial PFC is important for reconfiguration of task sets, whereas latPFC is important for retrieving, maintaining and implementing relevant rules (i.e. rule representation). Twenty young adults participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in which they determined the correct response to a target stimulus on the basis of an instructional cue. For bivalent targets, the appropriate response depended on the currently relevant rule. In contrast, univalent targets were always associated with the same response. Brain regions of interest were characterized according to their responsiveness to bivalent and univalent targets, on both rule-switch and rule-repetition trials. The data support the hypothesis that rule representation and task-set reconfiguration are separable cognitive processes, associated with dissociable neural activation in latPFC and medial PFC, respectively. Activation profiles of posterior parietal cortex, basal ganglia and rostrolateral PFC are also examined and discussed.