title: Brain Activations Related to Saccadic Response Conflict are not Sensitive to Time on Task.
abstract: Establishing a role of the dorsal medial frontal cortex in the performance monitoring and cognitive control has been a challenge to neuroscientists for the past decade. In light of recent findings, the conflict monitoring hypothesis has been elaborated to an action-outcome predictor theory. One of the findings that led to this re-evaluation was the fMRI study in which conflict-related brain activity was investigated in terms of the so-called time on task effect, i.e., a linear increase of the BOLD signal with longer response times. The aim of this study was to investigate brain regions involved in the processing of saccadic response conflict and to account for the time on task effect. A modified spatial cueing task was implemented in the event-related fMRI study with oculomotor responses. The results revealed several brain regions which show higher activity for incongruent trials in comparison to the congruent ones, including pre-supplementary motor area together with the frontal and parietal regions. Further analysis accounting for the effect of response time provided evidence that these brain activations were not sensitive to time on task but reflected purely the congruency effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroergonomics, Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland ; Neurobiology Department, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beldzik
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroergonomics, Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland ; Neurobiology Department, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Domagalik
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroergonomics, Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Halszka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oginska
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroergonomics, Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland ; Neurobiology Department, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Marek
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroergonomics, Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland ; Neurobiology Department, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fafrowicz
keywords: fMRI; pre-SMA; response conflict; saccades; time on task