title: The impact of MRI scanner environment on perceptual decision-making.
abstract: Despite the widespread use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), few studies have addressed scanner effects on performance. The studies that have examined this question show a wide variety of results. In this article we report analyses of three experiments in which participants performed a perceptual decision-making task both in a traditional setting as well as inside an MRI scanner. The results consistently show that response times increase inside the scanner. Error rates also increase, but to a lesser extent. To reveal the underlying mechanisms that drive the behavioral changes when performing a task inside the MRI scanner, the data were analyzed using the linear ballistic accumulator model of decision-making. These analyses show that, in the scanner, participants exhibit a slow down of the motor component of the response and have less attentional focus on the task. However, the balance between focus and motor slowing depends on the specific task requirements.
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. lvmaanen@gmail.com.|Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. lvmaanen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Leendert
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Maanen
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Birte U
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Forstmann
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Max C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Keuken
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eric-Jan
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Wagenmakers
authors.affiliation: University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heathcote
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011603:Psychophysiology / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time
keywords: Behavioral experiments; Decision-making; Linear ballistic accumulator; Response-time models