title: Is cognitive control automatic? New insights from transcranial magnetic stimulation.
abstract: Cognitive control has been classically considered as a flexible process engaged to pursue intentional behaviors, as distinct from automatic processes, which are unintentional, inflexible, and triggered by unconscious mechanisms. Our study challenged this view, showing that such a distinction may not be so clear-cut. We analyzed motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms occurring in a conflict task during trials that either required or did not require a response. We observed a Simon effect on MEPs and sequential modulations of such effects on both kinds of trials. Sequential modulations are usually explained as resulting from the engagement of intentional control mechanisms. Our findings rule against this idea, suggesting that these effects are the result of a mechanism that detects and resolves conflict even when there is no intention to select any response. Accordingly, cognitive control also seems to operate without intention, acting in an automatic fashion.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padova, Italy. giorgia.cona@unipd.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cona
authors.affiliation: Department of History, Human Sciences and Education, University of Sassari, Via Maurizio Zanfarino, 62, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Treccani
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Umiltà
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011340:Problem Solving; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Automatic; Cognitive control; Conflict task; Intentionality; MEPs; Sequential modulations; Simon effect; TMS