title: Automaticity and reestablishment of executive control-an fMRI study.
abstract: The ability to exert control over automatic behavior is of particular importance as it allows us to interrupt our behavior when the automatic response is no longer adequate or even dangerous. However, despite the literature that exists on the effects of practice on brain activation, little is known about the neuroanatomy involved in reestablishing executive control over previously automatized behavior. We present a visual search task that enabled participants to automatize according to defined criteria within about 3 hr of practice and then required them to reassert control without changing the stimulus set. We found widespread cortical activation early in practice. Activation in all frontal areas and in the inferior parietal lobule decreased significantly with practice. Only selected prefrontal (Brodmann's areas [BAs] 9/46/8) and parietal areas (BAs 39/40) were specifically reactivated when executive control was required, underlining the crucial role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in executive control to guide our behavior.
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Dublin, Ireland,
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kübler
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Garavan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen