title: Quantitative characterization of functional anatomical contributions to cognitive control under uncertainty.
abstract: Although much evidence indicates that RT increases as a function of computational load in many cognitive tasks, quantification of changes in neural activity related to increasing demand of cognitive control has rarely been attempted. In this fMRI study, we used a majority function task to quantify the effect of computational load on brain activation, reflecting the mental processes instantiated by cognitive control under conditions of uncertainty. We found that the activation of the frontoparieto-cingulate system as well as the deactivation of the anticorrelated default mode network varied parametrically as a function of information uncertainty, estimated as entropy with an information theoretic model. The current findings suggest that activity changes in the dynamic networks of the brain (especially the frontoparieto-cingulate system) track with information uncertainty, rather than only conflict or other commonly proposed targets of cognitive control.
authors.affiliation: The City University of New York.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Nicholas T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Van Dam
authors.forename: Xiaosi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hongbin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cheuk Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hof
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D019277:Entropy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen