title: Material-specific interference control is dissociable and lateralized in human prefrontal cortex.
abstract: The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a key role in the ability to pursue a particular goal in the face of competing alternatives, an ability that is fundamental to higher-order human behavior. Whether this region contributes to cognitive control through material-general mechanisms, or through hemispheric specialization of component abilities, remains unclear. Here we show that left or right ventrolateral PFC damage in humans leads to doubly dissociable deficits in two classic tests of interference control. Patients with damage centered on left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex had exaggerated interference effects in the color-word Stroop, but not the Eriksen flanker task, whereas patients with damage affecting right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex showed the opposite pattern. Thus, effective interference resolution requires either right or left lateral PFC, depending on the nature of the task. This finding supports a lateralized, material-specific account of cognitive control in humans.
authors.affiliation: Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Canada H3A 2B4; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, 43 Vassar Street, Office 4033-D, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: mgeddes@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Maiya R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Geddes
authors.affiliation: Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Canada H3A 2B4.
authors.forename: Ami
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsuchida
authors.affiliation: VA Northern California Health Care System, Martinez, CA 94553, USA.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: VA Northern California Health Care System, Martinez, CA 94553, USA; Department of Neurology, University of California, Davis, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Swick
authors.affiliation: Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Canada H3A 2B4.
authors.forename: Lesley K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Fellows
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D005910:Glioma / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Cognitive control; Flanker; Frontal lobes; Lesion; Neuropsychology; Stroop; Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex