Integration and segregation of large-scale brain networks during short-term task automatization.
The human brain is organized into large-scale functional networks that can flexibly reconfigure their connectivity patterns, supporting both rapid adaptive control and long-term learning processes. However, it has remained unclear how short-term network dynamics support the rapid transformation of instructions into fluent behaviour. Comparing fMRI data of a learning sample (N=70) with a control sample (N=67), we find that increasingly efficient task processing during short-term practice is associated with a reorganization of large-scale network interactions. Practice-related efficiency gains are facilitated by enhanced coupling between the cingulo-opercular network and the dorsal attention network. Simultaneously, short-term task automatization is accompanied by decreasing activation of the fronto-parietal network, indicating a release of high-level cognitive control, and a segregation of the default mode network from task-related networks. These findings suggest that short-term task automatization is enabled by the brain's ability to rapidly reconfigure its large-scale network organization involving complementary integration and segregation processes.
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01069, Germany.
Holger
H
Mohr
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01069, Germany.
Uta
U
Wolfensteller
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.|Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Richard F
RF
Betzel
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.|McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, H3A 2B4 Quebec, Canada.
Bratislav
B
Mišić
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.|Indiana University Network Science Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
Olaf
O
Sporns
Department of Neuroscience, Laboratory of Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, University of Geneva, Geneva 1202, Switzerland.
Jonas
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6975-5634
J
Richiardi
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01069, Germany.
Hannes
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9793-3859
H
Ruge
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult