title: Dopaminergic modulation of cognitive control: distinct roles for the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia.
abstract: Evidence from psychopharmacological functional neuroimaging begins to elucidate the neurochemical mechanisms of cognitive control. The role of dopamine in two subcomponent processes of cognitive control is discussed: the active maintenance and the flexible updating of goal-relevant representations. A range of studies have highlighted a role for the prefrontal cortex (pFC) and its modulation by dopamine in the active maintenance of distractor-resistant goal-relevant representations. This work suggests that dopamine might modulate top-down signals from the pFC, thereby increasing the activity of posterior cortical regions that process goal-relevant representations and rendering them distractor-resistant. Conversely, other studies highlight a role for dopamine in the basal ganglia in cognitive switching, which might reflect a modulation of the selective gating of cortical cognitive and motor programs. We present a working hypothesis that integrates these two disparate literatures and states that the flexible adaptation of current goal-relevant representations is mediated by modulatory influences of activity in the dopamine-sensitive basal ganglia on connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and posterior cortex.
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, University Nijmegen, Kapittelweg 29, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. martine.vanschouwenburg@donders.ru.nl
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Schouwenburg
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aarts
authors.forename: Roshan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cools
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000378:metabolism; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine