title: The norepinephrine system shows information-content specific properties during cognitive control - Evidence from EEG and pupillary responses.
abstract: The ability to exert cognitive control is a major function of the prefrontal cortex, the efficiency of which depends on the phasic release of norepinephrine (NE) at particular time points. However, different aspects of information are simultaneously processed at any given moment. This raises the question of whether the norepinephrine system is also capable of specifically modulating selected aspects of all ongoing information processing, especially when several of those processes are carried out by the same functional neuroanatomical structure at the same time. We examine this question in humans using a flanker paradigm by integrating neurophysiological (EEG) and pupil diameter data using novel signal processing techniques including Residue Iteration Decomposition (RIDE) and source localization. We show that during conflict monitoring, motor response-related processes are more strongly modulated by the NE system than stimulus-related processes or central decision processes between stimulus and response. This was the case even though these processes occurred at the same time point and were mediated by overlapping medial frontal cortical structures. The results indicate that the NE system exerts specific modulatory effects for different informational contents that are simultaneously processed in the medial frontal cortex.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine of the TU Dresden, Germany; MS Centre Dresden, Faculty of Medicine of the TU Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mückschel
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine of the TU Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Witold
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chmielewski
authors.affiliation: MS Centre Dresden, Faculty of Medicine of the TU Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Tjalf
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ziemssen
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine of the TU Dresden, Germany; Experimental Neurobiology, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic. Electronic address: christian.beste@uniklinikum-dresden.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beste
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism*; D012025:Reflex, Pupillary / Q000502:physiology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009638:Norepinephrine
keywords: Conflict; EEG; Norepinephrine; Pupil diameter; Residue iteration decomposition; Response selection; Source localization