Resting-state BOLD signal variability is associated with individual differences in metacontrol

Research Square

Abstract

Abstract Numerous studies demonstrate that moment-to-moment neural variability is behaviorally relevant and beneficial for tasks and behaviors requiring cognitive flexibility. However, it remains unclear whether the positive effect of neural variability also holds for cognitive persistence. Moreover, different brain variability measures have been used in previous studies, yet comparisons between them are lacking. In the current study, we examined the association between resting-state BOLD signal variability and two metacontrol policies (i.e., persistence vs. flexibility). Brain variability was estimated from resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) data using three different approaches (i.e., Standard Deviation (SD), Mean Square Successive Difference (MSSD), and sliding time-window correlation (SWC)) and metacontrol biases were assessed by three metacontrol-sensitive tasks. Results showed that brain variability measured by SD and MSSD was highly positively related, while SWC measured variability was not related to the other two measures. Critically, higher variability measured by MSSD in the attention network, parietal and frontal network, frontal and ACC network, parietal and motor network, and higher variability measured by SD in the parietal and motor network, parietal and frontal network were associated with reduced persistence (or greater flexibility) of metacontrol (i.e., larger Stroop effect or worse RAT performance). Our findings show that the beneficial effect of brain signal variability on cognitive control depends on the metacontrol states involved. Moreover, different brain variability measures may capture different aspects of variability and can result in different brain-behavior relationships.

Authors 8

1. Chenyan Zhang Aachen

   Leiden University · Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University

   Erasmus University

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Ale Smidts Erasmus University

   Shandong Normal University

   TU Dresden

2. Christian Beste Aachen

   Leiden University · Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   TU Dresden

   Erasmus University

   Leiden University

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Ale Smidts Erasmus University

   Shandong Normal University

3. Luisa Prochazkova Aachen

   Leiden University · Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University

   Erasmus University

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Ale Smidts Erasmus University

   Shandong Normal University

   TU Dresden

4. Kangcheng Wang Aachen

   Leiden University · Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Shandong Normal University

   Erasmus University

   Leiden University

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Ale Smidts Erasmus University

   TU Dresden

5. Sebastian P. H. Speer Aachen

   Leiden University · Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

   Erasmus University

   Leiden University

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Ale Smidts Erasmus University

   Shandong Normal University

   TU Dresden

6. Ale Smidts

   Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Erasmus University

7. Maarten A.S. Boksem Aachen

   Leiden University · Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Erasmus University

   Leiden University

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Ale Smidts Erasmus University

   Shandong Normal University

   TU Dresden

8. Bernhard Hommel Aachen

   Leiden University · Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   TU Dresden

   Erasmus University

   Leiden University

   Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Ale Smidts Erasmus University

   Shandong Normal University