Abstract
Implementing novel instructions is a complex and uniquely human cognitive ability, that requires the rapid and flexible conversion of symbolic content into a format that enables the execution of the instructed behavior. Preparing to implement novel instructions, as opposed to their mere maintenance, involves the activation of the instructed motor plans, and the binding of the action information to the specific context in which this should be executed. Recent evidence and prominent computational models suggest that this efficient configuration of the system might involve a central role of frontal theta oscillations in establishing top-down long-range synchronization between distant and task-relevant brain areas. In the present EEG study (human subjects, 30 females, 4 males), we demonstrate that proactively preparing for the implementation of novels instructions, as opposed to their maintenance, involves a strengthened degree of connectivity in the theta frequency range between medial prefrontal and motor/visual areas. Moreover, we replicated previous results showing oscillatory features associated specifically with implementation demands, and extended on them demonstrating the role of theta oscillations in mediating the effect of task demands on behavioral performance. Taken together, these findings support our hypothesis that the modulation of connectivity patterns between frontal and task-relevant posterior brain areas is a core factor in the emergence of a behavior-guiding format from novel instructions.
Significance statement
Everyday life requires the use and manipulation of currently available information to guide behavior and reach specific goals. In the present study we investigate how the same instructed content elicits different neural activity depending on the task being performed. Crucially, connectivity between medial prefrontal cortex and posterior brain areas is strengthened when novel instructions have to be implemented, rather than simply maintained. This finding suggests that theta oscillations play a role in setting up a dynamic and flexible network of task-relevant regions optimized for the execution of the instructed behavior.
Footnotes
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
The present study was funded by Special Research Fund of Ghent University BOF.GOA.2017.0002.03 and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2002/1 “Science of Intelligence” – project number 390523135. C.G.G. was additionally funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 835767, and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, grant ID IJC2019-040208-I. M.S. was supported by Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) grant number G012816N, and the Research Council of Ghent University, grant BOF17-GOA-004. M.B. is supported by an Einstein Strategic Professorship (Einstein Foundation Berlin).
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
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