Phasic Alertness Impairs Cognitive Control by Amplifying Competition between Evidence Accumulators

Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 45, pp. e1595242025

Abstract

Although phasic alertness generally benefits cognitive performance, it often increases the impact of distracting information, resulting in impaired decision-making and cognitive control. However, it is unclear why phasic alertness has these negative effects. Here, we present a novel, biologically informed account, according to which phasic alertness generates a transient, evidence-independent input (TEI) to the decision process. This shortens overall response times but also amplifies competition between evidence accumulators, thus slowing down decision-making and impairing cognitive control. The key hypotheses of this account are supported with pupil measurements and electrophysiological data from human decision-makers of either sex performing an arrow flanker task. We also show that a computational model of the flanker task that incorporates a TEI can reproduce the behavioral effects of phasic alertness but only when the evidence accumulators compete with each other through lateral inhibition. Our results reveal a close interplay between dynamic changes in alertness, cognitive control, and evidence accumulation.

Authors 5

1. Jeshua Tromp Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands jeshuatromp@live.nl

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands jeshuatromp@live.nl

2. Franz Wurm Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands

3. Federica Lucchi Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands

4. Roy de Kleijn Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands

5. Sander Nieuwenhuis Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands