title: A tweaking principle for executive control: neuronal circuit mechanism for rule-based task switching and conflict resolution.
abstract: A hallmark of executive control is the brain's agility to shift between different tasks depending on the behavioral rule currently in play. In this work, we propose a "tweaking hypothesis" for task switching: a weak rule signal provides a small bias that is dramatically amplified by reverberating attractor dynamics in neural circuits for stimulus categorization and action selection, leading to an all-or-none reconfiguration of sensory-motor mapping. Based on this principle, we developed a biologically realistic model with multiple modules for task switching. We found that the model quantitatively accounts for complex task switching behavior: switch cost, congruency effect, and task-response interaction; as well as monkey's single-neuron activity associated with task switching. The model yields several testable predictions, in particular, that category-selective neurons play a key role in resolving sensory-motor conflict. This work represents a neural circuit model for task switching and sheds insights in the brain mechanism of a fundamental cognitive capability.
authors: Department of Neurobiology and Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, Department of Biology, Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada, and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003.
authors: Salva
authors: S
authors: Ardid
authors: Xiao-Jing
authors: XJ
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D000882:Haplorhini; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
keywords: attractor dynamics; congruency effect; flexible behavior; sensory–motor conflict; switch cost; top–down control