The role of the frontal cortex in task preparation.
The ability to prepare a task is crucial for the voluntary control of our actions. It enables us to react flexibly and rapidly to a changing environment. In the present event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study we investigated task preparation with a task-cueing paradigm. In this paradigm we intermixed trials in which a task cue and a target were presented with trials in which only the task cue was presented. Analysis of these cue-only trials allowed us to isolate task-preparation related control from execution-related control processes. By means of this paradigm, we could demonstrate that a frontal network was related to task preparation. Further analysis revealed that the fronto-lateral cortex at the junction of precentral sulcus and inferior frontal sulcus and the presupplementary motor area are the crucial frontal components in task preparation.
Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany. brass@cnns.mpg.de
Marcel
M
Brass
D Yves
DY
von Cramon
D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*