Executive Control – Dynamic Adjustments in Control
Task Name
Description
Cognitive Construct Validity
Attention
Networks
Task
A fixation cross is visible in the centre
of the screen during the whole
experiment. Cue stimuli appear above
or below the fixation cross (spatial cue),
above and below the centre (double
cue), in the centre (centre cue), or are
not displayed (no cue). Spatial cues
always validly display the upcoming
target’s location. Target stimuli consist
of five horizontally arranged arrows or
lines presented above or below the
centre. By left or right button press,
subjects have to indicate the direction
of the central arrow irrespective of
flanking conditions. Flankers are either
lines (neutral target condition) or arrows
pointing to the same (congruent target
condition) or to the opposite direction
(incongruent target condition). Each
trial consists of a variable fixation
period (400-1600ms), cue presentation
(100ms), an invariant fixation period
(400ms), and presentation of the target
(maximum duration 1700ms) followed
by a variable fixation period
immediately after response. The
duration of each trial sums up to
4000ms. After a training block of 24
trials with full feedback subjects have to
perform three experimental blocks with
a total of 288 trials in a pseudorandomized order without feedback.
Subjects are instructed to maintain
focusing on the fixation cross
throughout the experiment and to
respond as fast and as accurately as
possible. Attention network effects are
calculated as reaction time (RT)
differences of the following task
conditions: alerting = RT targets (no
previous cue) – RT targets (previous
double cue); orienting = RT targets
The experimental task was
designed by Posner and
Petersen (Posner & Petersen,
1990), and was used and
described by Fan and coworkers (Fan, McCandliss,
Sommer, Raz, & Posner,
2002).
The Attention Network Test
(ANT) is a new paradigm
designed to examine attention
network efficiencies of
alerting, orienting of attention,
and executive control (Fan et
al., 2002) according to the
concept of an integrative
selective attention system
introduced by Posner and
Petersen (Posner & Petersen,
1990). In particular, the
assessment of executive
functions in healthy probands
seems to reveal robust conflict
effects on a behavioral level in
terms of reaction time (RT)
delay (Fan et al., 2002).
(Posner & Petersen, 1990)
(Fan et al., 2002)
Neural Construct
Validity
In functional magnetic
resonance imaging
(fMRI) experiments
activations of anterior
cingulate cortex (ACC)
have been
demonstrated during
conflict suggesting
exertion of executive
control (Fan,
Flombaum,
McCandliss, Thomas,
& Posner, 2003; Fan,
McCandliss, Fossella,
Flombaum, & Posner,
2005).
Moreover, the conflict
effect of ANT seems
to be heritable to
some extend (Fan,
Wu, Fossella, &
Posner, 2001) and
polymorphisms in
dopamine receptor 4
and monoamine
oxidase A genes were
found to be related to
differential behavioral
conflict response
(Fossella et al., 2002)
as well as differential
ACC conflict response
in an fMRI study (Fan,
Fossella, Sommer,
Wu, & Posner, 2003).
Recently, selective
impairment of ANT
conflict processing in
schizophrenia has
been reported (Wang
et al., 2005).
Reliability
(Fan et al., 2002)
Fan et al., 2002:
Test-retest
between two
sessions on the
same day:
Correlations of
0.52 to 0.87.
Psychometric
Characteristics
Unknown
Animal Model
Stage of Research
Unknown
There is evidence
that this specific task
elicits deficits in
schizophrenia.
(Wang et al., 2005)
Data already exists
on psychometric
characteristics of this
task, such as testretest reliability,
practice effects,
ceiling/floor effects.
We need to study
whether or not
performance on this
task changes in
response to
psychological or
pharmacological
intervention.
(previous centre cue) – RT targets
(previous spatial cue); conflict = RT
incongruent targets – RT congruent
targets. Ratios for attention network
effects are calculated as effect/ mean
RT.
(Fan et al., 2005)
(Fan, Flombaum et al.,
2003)
(Fossella et al., 2002)
(Fan, Fossella et al.,
2003)
(Wang et al., 2005)
MANUSCRIPTS ON THE WEBSITE:
Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T.,
Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing
the efficiency and independence of
attentional networks. J Cogn Neurosci,
14(3), 340-347.
Wang, K., Fan, J., Dong, Y., Wang, C.
Q., Lee, T. M., & Posner, M. I. (2005).
Selective impairment of attentional
networks of orienting and executive
control in schizophrenia. Schizophr
Res, 78(2-3), 235-241.
Stop Signal
Task
In the stop-signal task, subjects
perform a primary task (e.g., decide
whether the stimulus is an X or O). On
a proportion of trials (e.g., 25%), a
secondary stimulus signals the subject
to withhold their response. An adaptive
procedure is used to adjust the delay of
this stop signal to ensure 50%
successful inhibition of responses.
(G. D. Logan, Cowan, & Davis, 1984)
(G. D. Logan & Cowan, 1984)
(G. Logan, 1984)
MANUSCRIPTS ON THE WEBSITE:
Aron, A. R., & Poldrack, R. A. (2006).
Cortical and subcortical contributions to
Stop signal response inhibition: role of
the subthalamic nucleus. J Neurosci,
26(9), 2424-2433.
Band, G. P., van der Molen, M. W., &
Logan, G. D. (2003). Horse-race model
Correlated with measures of
impulsivity Impaired in ADHD
Impaired in stimulant abuse
Activation in prefrontal
cortex and STN for
inhibition TMS affects
stopping ability
Stimulants increase
stopping ability.
(G. D. Logan,
Schachar, & Tannock,
1997)
(Aron & Poldrack,
2006)
(Aron, Robbins, &
Poldrack, 2004)
(Chambers et al.,
2006)
Effects of different
methods on
reliability of SSRT
computation.
(Band, van der
Molen, & Logan,
2003)
Indicates the
number of trials
necessary to
achieve small
confidence
intervals.
Explicitly avoids
floor/ceiling effect by using
adaptive method.
Unpublished data from our
lab shows no reliable
evidence of practice
effects
Yes, for rodents
(Eagle & Robbins,
2003)
This specific task
needs to be studied
in individuals with
schizophrenia.
Data already exists
on psychometric
characteristics of this
task, such as testretest reliability,
practice effects,
ceiling/floor effects.
There is evidence
that performance on
this task can
improve in response
to psychological or
pharmacological
interventions.
simulations of the stop-signal
procedure. Acta Psychol (Amst),
112(2), 105-142.
Simon Task
Subjects fixate central and respond to a
colored square that appears to the left
or right of fixation. The color maps onto
a lateralized response e.g. respond
with the left had to a blue square and
the right hand to a red square
(sometimes the stimulus is an arrow
pointing in one direction or the other.
This stimulus response can conflict with
the natural tendency to give a
lateralized response to a stimulus
appear on the same side of the display
e.g. if a red square appears on the left
side (incongruent trials). Conflict
adaptation effects are computed in the
same manner as above for the Stroop.
Behavioral studies have
shown robust post conflict and
post error adaptation with this
task (Ridderinkhof, 2002).
fMRI studies have linked the
ACC to conflict related activity
and subsequent adjustments
in control and the DLPFC to
supporting those adjustments
as for the Stroop (Kerns,
2006; Sturmer, Leuthold,
Soetens, Schroter, & Sommer,
2002). Individuals with lesions
to rostral ACC show impaired
conflict adaptation on the
Simon task (di Pellegrino,
Ciaramelli, & Ladavas, 2007).
The task has not been
used in schizophrenia
to measure conflict
adaptation. However,
it has been used to
measure conflict
adaptation in
depression (Holmes &
Pizzagalli, 2007).
Task widely used as measure
of goal maintenance and
response inhibition, more
recently used to measure
conflict adaptation. Strong
links to neural systems, ACC
activity greatest during CI
trials and errors, predicts
subsequent performance
adjustments, DLPFC greatest
Has been used in
schizophrenia to
measure changes in
conflict adaptation and
neural correlates in
schizophrenia as well
as error related
adjustments and
neural correlates (fMRI
and ERP’s)(Alain,
Little to nothing
known about
psychometric
properties of
conflict adaptation
and post error
adjustment
measures using
this task.
Little to nothing known
about psychometric
properties of conflict
adaptation and post error
adjustment measures
using this task.
Unknown
There is evidence
that this specific task
elicits deficits in
schizophrenia.
We need to assess
psychometric
characteristics such
as test-retest
reliability, practice
effects, and
ceiling/floor effects
for this task.
We need to study
whether or not
performance on this
task changes in
response to
psychological or
pharmacological
intervention
MANUSCRIPTS ON THE WEBSITE:
Kerns, J. G. (2006). Anterior cingulate
and prefrontal cortex activity in an
FMRI study of trial-to-trial adjustments
on the Simon task. Neuroimage, 33(1),
399-405.
Ridderinkhof, K. R. (2002). Micro- and
macro-adjustments of task set:
activation and suppression in conflict
tasks. Psychol Res, 66(4), 312-323.
Stroop Task
Subjects respond verbally or by button
press to the color of a word which is
itself the name of a color. Stimuli may
be congruent (word and color are the
same), or incongruent (word and color
differ). Subjects are slower and lees
accurate when the word and color
conflict on incongruent trials (the Stroop
effect). Conflict adaptation is computed
by comparing performance on
Little to nothing
known about
psychometric
properties of
conflict adaptation
and post error
adjustment
measures using
this task.
Little to nothing known
about psychometric
properties of conflict
adaptation and post error
adjustment measures
using this task.
Unknown
There is evidence
that this specific task
elicits deficits in
schizophrenia.
We need to assess
psychometric
characteristics such
as test-retest
reliability, practice
incongruent trials following another
incongruent trial (II faster and more
accurate) vs. that of incongruent trials
following a congruent trial (CI, slower
and less accurate) as well as IC trials
(slower, less accurate) compared to CC
(faster, more accurate) trials. Post
error adjustments also measured using
this paradigm.
MANUSCRIPTS ON THE WEBSITE:
on trials with large
adjustments, predicted by
previous trial ACC activity
(Egner, Delano, & Hirsch,
2007; Egner & Hirsch, 2005;
Kerns, Cohen, Stenger, &
Carter, 2004).
McNeely, He,
Christensen, & West,
2002; Becker, Kerns,
Macdonald, & Carter,
2008; Kerns et al.,
2005; McNeely, West,
Christensen, & Alain,
2003; Nordahl et al.,
2001).
effects, and
ceiling/floor effects
for this task.
We need to study
whether or not
performance on this
task changes in
response to
psychological or
pharmacological
intervention
Alain, C., McNeely, H. E., He, Y.,
Christensen, B. K., & West, R. (2002).
Neurophysiological evidence of errormonitoring deficits in patients with
schizophrenia. Cereb Cortex, 12(8),
840-846.
Egner, T., Delano, M., & Hirsch, J.
(2007). Separate conflict-specific
cognitive control mechanisms in the
human brain. Neuroimage, 35(2), 940948.
REFERENCES:
Alain, C., McNeely, H. E., He, Y., Christensen, B. K., & West, R. (2002). Neurophysiological evidence of error-monitoring deficits in patients with schizophrenia. Cereb Cortex, 12(8), 840-846.
Aron, A. R., & Poldrack, R. A. (2006). Cortical and subcortical contributions to Stop signal response inhibition: role of the subthalamic nucleus. J Neurosci, 26(9), 2424-2433.
Aron, A. R., Robbins, T. W., & Poldrack, R. A. (2004). Inhibition and the right inferior frontal cortex. Trends Cogn Sci, 8(4), 170-177.
Band, G. P., van der Molen, M. W., & Logan, G. D. (2003). Horse-race model simulations of the stop-signal procedure. Acta Psychol (Amst), 112(2), 105-142.
Becker, T. M., Kerns, J. G., Macdonald, A. W., 3rd, & Carter, C. S. (2008). Prefrontal Dysfunction in First-Degree Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients during a Stroop Task. Neuropsychopharmacology.
Chambers, C. D., Bellgrove, M. A., Stokes, M. G., Henderson, T. R., Garavan, H., Robertson, I. H., et al. (2006). Executive "brake failure" following deactivation of human frontal lobe. J Cogn Neurosci, 18(3), 444455.
di Pellegrino, G., Ciaramelli, E., & Ladavas, E. (2007). The regulation of cognitive control following rostral anterior cingulate cortex lesion in humans. J Cogn Neurosci, 19(2), 275-286.
Eagle, D. M., & Robbins, T. W. (2003). Inhibitory control in rats performing a stop-signal reaction-time task: effects of lesions of the medial striatum and d-amphetamine. Behav Neurosci, 117(6), 1302-1317.
Egner, T., Delano, M., & Hirsch, J. (2007). Separate conflict-specific cognitive control mechanisms in the human brain. Neuroimage, 35(2), 940-948.
Egner, T., & Hirsch, J. (2005). Cognitive control mechanisms resolve conflict through cortical amplification of task-relevant information. Nat Neurosci, 8(12), 1784-1790.
Fan, J., Flombaum, J. I., McCandliss, B. D., Thomas, K. M., & Posner, M. I. (2003). Cognitive and brain consequences of conflict. Neuroimage, 18(1), 42-57.
Fan, J., Fossella, J., Sommer, T., Wu, Y., & Posner, M. I. (2003). Mapping the genetic variation of executive attention onto brain activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 100(12), 7406-7411.
Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Fossella, J., Flombaum, J. I., & Posner, M. I. (2005). The activation of attentional networks. Neuroimage, 26(2), 471-479.
Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. J Cogn Neurosci, 14(3), 340-347.
Fan, J., Wu, Y., Fossella, J. A., & Posner, M. I. (2001). Assessing the heritability of attentional networks. BMC Neurosci, 2, 14.
Fossella, J., Sommer, T., Fan, J., Wu, Y., Swanson, J. M., Pfaff, D. W., et al. (2002). Assessing the molecular genetics of attention networks. BMC Neurosci, 3, 14.
Holmes, A. J., & Pizzagalli, D. A. (2007). Task feedback effects on conflict monitoring and executive control: relationship to subclinical measures of depression. Emotion, 7(1), 68-76.
Kerns, J. G. (2006). Anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex activity in an FMRI study of trial-to-trial adjustments on the Simon task. Neuroimage, 33(1), 399-405.
Kerns, J. G., Cohen, J. D., MacDonald, A. W., 3rd, Johnson, M. K., Stenger, V. A., Aizenstein, H., et al. (2005). Decreased conflict- and error-related activity in the anterior cingulate cortex in subjects with
schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(10), 1833-1839.
Kerns, J. G., Cohen, J. D., Stenger, V. A., & Carter, C. S. (2004). Prefrontal cortex guides context-appropriate responding during language production. Neuron, 43(2), 283-291.
Logan, G. (1984). On the ability to inhibit thought and action: A user's guide to the stop signal paradigm. In D. C. Dagenbach, T. H. (Ed.), Inhibitory processes in attention, memory and language. San Diego:
Academic Press.
Logan, G. D., & Cowan, W. B. (1984). On the ability to inhibit thought and action: A theory of an act of control. Psychological Review, 91(3), 295-327.
Logan, G. D., Cowan, W. B., & Davis, K. A. (1984). On the ability to inhibit simple and choice reaction time responses: A model and a method. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and
Performance, 10(2), 276-291.
Logan, G. D., Schachar, R. J., & Tannock, R. (1997). Impulsivity and inhibitory control. Psychological Science, 8, 60-64.
McNeely, H. E., West, R., Christensen, B. K., & Alain, C. (2003). Neurophysiological evidence for disturbances of conflict processing in patients with schizophrenia. J Abnorm Psychol, 112(4), 679-688.
Nordahl, T. E., Carter, C. S., Salo, R. E., Kraft, L., Baldo, J., Salamat, S., et al. (2001). Anterior cingulate metabolism correlates with stroop errors in paranoid schizophrenia patients. Neuropsychopharmacology,
25(1), 139-148.
Ridderinkhof, K. R. (2002). Micro- and macro-adjustments of task set: activation and suppression in conflict tasks. Psychol Res, 66(4), 312-323.
Sturmer, B., Leuthold, H., Soetens, E., Schroter, H., & Sommer, W. (2002). Control over location-based response activation in the Simon task: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. J Exp Psychol Hum
Percept Perform, 28(6), 1345-1363.
Wang, K., Fan, J., Dong, Y., Wang, C. Q., Lee, T. M., & Posner, M. I. (2005). Selective impairment of attentional networks of orienting and executive control in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res, 78(2-3), 235-241.