title: Time-Resolved Decoding of Two Processing Chains during Dual-Task Interference.
abstract: The human brain exhibits fundamental limitations in multitasking. When subjects engage in a primary task, their ability to respond to a second stimulus is degraded. Two competing models of multitasking have been proposed: either cognitive resources are shared between tasks, or they are allocated to each task serially. Using a novel combination of magneto-encephalography and multivariate pattern analyses, we obtained a precise spatio-temporal decomposition of the brain processes at work during multitasking. We discovered that each task relies on a sequence of brain processes. These sequences can operate in parallel for several hundred milliseconds but beyond ∼ 500 ms, they repel each other: processes evoked by the first task are shortened, while processes of the second task are either lengthened or postponed. These results contradict the resource-sharing model and further demonstrate that the serial model is incomplete. We therefore propose a new theoretical framework for the computational architecture underlying multitasking.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France. Electronic address: sebastien.marti@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Rémi
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Collège de France, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Stanislas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dehaene
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: attention; attentional blink; consciousness; dual task; magnetoencephalography; psychological refractory period