Dynamic cooperation and competition between brain systems during cognitive control

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2013.08.006

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

Volume 17, Issue 10, October 2013, Pages 493-501

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.08.006 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Cognitive control involves the activity of large-scale specialized brain systems.
•
Control functions may be supported by transitory cross-system interactions.
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Control may involve interactions between systems that are otherwise segregated or antagonistic.

The human brain is characterized by a remarkable ability to adapt its information processing based on current goals. This ability, which is encompassed by the psychological construct of cognitive control, involves activity throughout large-scale, specialized brain systems that support segregated functions at rest and during active task performance. Based on recent research, we propose an account in which control functions rely on transitory changes in patterns of cooperation and competition between neural systems. This account challenges current conceptualizations of control as relying on segregated or antagonistic activity of specialized brain systems. Accordingly, we argue that the study of transitory task-based interactions between brain systems is critical to understanding the flexibility of normal cognitive control and its disruption in pathological conditions.

Section snippets

Overview

Cognitive control is a multifaceted construct that encompasses a diverse range of functions involved in flexibly coordinating information to achieve internal goals in a noisy and changing environment [1]. Such control processes include the ability to link multiple sources of information to solve problems, selective retrieval of information from memory, inhibition of inappropriate behavioral responses, and active selection and maintenance of behaviorally relevant information online [2]. These

Segregated systems supporting cognitive control

Cognitive control has traditionally been associated with functioning of the frontal cortices [12]. Recent findings from neuroimaging have highlighted the importance of local connections within frontal cortical areas for various control functions; specifically, motoric aspects of control, such as movement planning, are thought to involve caudal frontal regions, whereas more complex cognitive processes such as abstract reasoning have been associated with engagement of rostral frontal regions [5].

Context-dependent reconfiguration of control systems

In the past few years, developments in fMRI, together with the application of novel statistical methods for mapping context-specific changes in brain connectivity, have advanced investigations of the task-based neural dynamics subserving cognitive control processes (Box 1). Insights gained from studies adopting these analysis techniques have provided new information concerning the within- and between-system dynamics supporting cognitive control. These new findings suggest a need to update

Dynamic meta-systems supporting cognitive control

We have suggested that control functions are supported by transitory, task-induced reconfiguration of functional interactions among specialized brain systems. Accordingly, we propose a model in which complex control mechanisms rely on task-dependent changes in the flexible coupling within and between two overlapping meta-systems comprising three specialized networks: the frontoparietal system, the cingulo-opercular network, and the DMN (Figure 5A). This proposition is in line with emerging

Concluding remarks

Recent methodological advances in functional neuroimaging now permit a refined characterization of large-scale brain-system dynamics during cognitive control (Box 1). Results from studies adopting these new methods have provided novel insights into task-based dynamics that are not captured by the study of large-scale systems at rest. Based on these new observations, we propose that the remarkable flexibility of humans to generate complex behaviors according to internal goals is related to

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Drs Marc Kamke and Oliver Baumann for their feedback on the paper. L.C. was supported by a grant from the National and International Research Alliance Program (NIRAP), Queensland State Government, Australia, and by a Griffith University Infrastructure Research Grant. J.B.M was supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellowship (FL110100103). A.Z. was supported by a Melbourne Neuroscience Institute fellowship and a career development fellowship from the

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Trends in Cognitive Sciences

OpinionDynamic cooperation and competition between brain systems during cognitive control

Highlights

Section snippets

Overview

Segregated systems supporting cognitive control

Context-dependent reconfiguration of control systems

Dynamic meta-systems supporting cognitive control

Concluding remarks

Acknowledgments

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Neuropsychologia

Neuron

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Curr. Opin. Neurobiol.

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Neuron

Neuron

Neuron

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Biol. Psychiatry

Neuroimage

Biol. Psychiatry

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Trends Cogn. Sci.

Double dissociation of two cognitive control networks in patients with focal brain lesions

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Executive functioning: overview, assessment, and research issues for non-neuropsychologists

Ann. Behav. Med.

Biophysical mechanisms of multistability in resting-state cortical rhythms

J. Neurosci.

Multi-task connectivity reveals flexible hubs for adaptive task control

Nat. Neurosci.

Complexity in relational processing predicts changes in functional brain network dynamics

Cereb. Cortex

Competitive and cooperative dynamics of large-scale brain functional networks supporting recollection

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Salience network integrity predicts default mode network function after traumatic brain injury

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

The neural bases of momentary lapses in attention

Nat. Neurosci.

An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function

Annu. Rev. Neurosci.

Distinct brain networks for adaptive and stable task control in humans

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Dissociable intrinsic connectivity networks for salience processing and executive control

J. Neurosci.

Correspondence of the brain's functional architecture during activation and rest

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Opinion
Dynamic cooperation and competition between brain systems during cognitive control