Resting-state BOLD signal variability is associated with individual differences in metacontrol
Scientific Reports, vol. 12, pp. 18425
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 two different approaches (i.e., Standard Deviation (SD), and Mean Square Successive Difference (MSSD)) and metacontrol biases were assessed by three metacontrol-sensitive tasks. Results showed that brain variability measured by SD and MSSD was highly positively related. 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). These results show that the beneficial effect of brain signal variability on cognitive control depends on the metacontrol states involved. Our study highlights the importance of temporal variability of rsfMRI activity in understanding the neural underpinnings of cognitive control.
Authors 8
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Chenyan Zhang Aachen Cognitive Psychology Unit Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition Institute of Psychology, Leiden University
Affiliation as printed
Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden
Affiliation as printed
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
University Neuropsychology Center, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Luisa Prochazkova Aachen Cognitive Psychology Unit Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition Institute of Psychology, Leiden University
Affiliation as printed
Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
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Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience · Princeton University
Affiliation as printed
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Bernhard Hommel corresponding Aachen Cognitive Psychology Unit Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition Institute of Psychology, Leiden University
Leiden University · Shandong Normal University · Technische Universität Dresden
Affiliation as printed
Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. bh@bhommel.onmicrosoft.com
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany. bh@bhommel.onmicrosoft.com
School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China. bh@bhommel.onmicrosoft.com
School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
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