Neural bases of congruency-sequence effects on conflict costs

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Correspondence and Fusion of Artificial Intelligence and Brain Science
• Project/Area Number: 16H06564
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Keiji 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 脳神経科学研究センター, チームリーダー (00221391)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-06-30 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 認知制御 / 前頭眼窩野

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To clarify the mechanism by which cognitive control dynamically adjusts itself to ever changing demand, we performed fMRI during a competing task. Subjects were trained to press a button in the direction specified by the color of stimulus according to a rule. An arrow pointing in the same (congruent condition) or opposite (incongruent condition) direction as specified by the color, or a line segment without arrowhead (neutral condition) was placed on the color stimulus to partially interfere with the performance of color-direction task. The activity pattern of the lateral part of the right orbitofrontal cortex represented the conditions of the previous and current trials. The dependence of the conflict cost on the previous-trial condition was negatively and positively correlated with the strength of orbitofrontal representation of the conflict conditions in the previous and current trials, respectively.

Free Research Field

認知脳科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

中立条件を追加した競合課題遂行中にfMRI測定を行なった結果、前頭眼窩皮質外側部が前試行において活性化し使ったタスクセットの数を表現し、これを現試行の認知制御に用いていることを示した。そして、「前頭眼窩皮質外側部は、内的な情報だけで決まる内的な課題遂行状態（task state）を表現することにより認知制御に貢献する」という新しい考えを提案し、前頭前野機能分化研究の新しい展開を促し、AI研究に新しいヒントを示した。