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Sensory inputs, neuromodulators and control
Sensory inputs, neuromodulators and control
A year in research · 28 selected publications · five research threads
In 2017, we traced cognitive control back to the sensory codes, bodily signals and neuromodulatory systems that prepare an action.
The studies showed that inhibition and multitasking are shaped before the final response: by modality, multimodal integration, prediction, working memory and norepinephrine-related preparation.
01 · INFORMATION CODES
Control networks represent different things
Control networks represent different things
Theta oscillations in prefrontal cortex carried separable stimulus and response codes during the inhibition of automatic actions.[1] Pupil-linked and EEG measures showed that norepinephrine-related activity was strongest for motor-response information and prepared control when inhibition was unlikely or multi-component demands might arise.[2,3,4] Working-memory load recruited norepinephrine-sensitive right frontal processes during stopping.[5]
Blocking, usually studied in conditioning, also changed medial-frontal response selection in goal-directed behaviour.[6] Automatic response tendencies could paradoxically make stopping more accurate by increasing cingulate conflict monitoring.[7]
In plain terms: The brain does not broadcast one generic control signal; it represents stimuli, decisions and motor responses with partly distinct dynamics.
02 · SENSORY FOUNDATIONS
The route into the system changes the system
The route into the system changes the system
The network supporting response inhibition depended on whether information arrived through vision or audition.[8] Somatosensory lateral inhibition affected later motor stopping, especially when information had to cross hemispheres.[9] Multimodal integration changed multitasking through premotor and visual-association regions, and helped explain developmental differences between children and adults.[10,11]
These findings were not confined to the laboratory. Changing proprioceptive information reversed some effects of alcohol on response control, while circadian impairment in restless legs syndrome arose from early visual selection rather than later conflict monitoring.[12,13]
In plain terms: Executive performance cannot be understood independently of the sensory and bodily information on which it operates.
03 · FLEXIBLE TASK SETS
Updating internal rules is a distinct operation
Updating internal rules is a distinct operation
Temporal decomposition localized memory- and cue-based switching differences to updating internal response-selection representations in inferior parietal cortex.[14] More efficient reactive switching was associated with a more small-world-like alpha network.[15] In OCD, extra working-memory demand exposed difficulties in perceptual categorization and task-set updating.[16] In inflammatory bowel disease, similar behavioural inflexibility reflected overtaxed neural circuits.[17]
A neurotoxicology translation study found that manganese-exposed welders did not show impaired flexibility or multitasking despite differences in an EEG marker.[18] That negative result underscored why behaviour and physiology must be interpreted together.
In plain terms: Switching depends on updating an internal task representation, and physiological differences do not automatically imply functional impairment.
04 · CLINICAL MECHANISMS
Similar symptoms, different neural routes
Similar symptoms, different neural routes
ADHD was marked by weak shielding of task goals against both conscious and subliminal conflict; accounting for intra-individual variability also revealed differences between inattentive and combined presentations.[19,20] ADD and neurofibromatosis type 1 could look clinically similar while showing different inhibitory physiology, and NF1 used a different route to successful conflict performance.[21,22]
Tourette syndrome showed enhanced integration in multi-component behaviour, possibly related to long-term tic control or frontostriatal connectivity.[23] Striosomal dysfunction in X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism unexpectedly improved perceptual decisions under distraction by reducing predictive interference.[24]
In plain terms: Behavioural resemblance is not mechanistic identity; distinct neural strategies can lead to the same score or symptom.
05 · STATE AND INTERVENTION
Biological state can reverse an effect
Biological state can reverse an effect
Binge-like intoxication reduced the efficiency of evidence accumulation, yet the following hangover increased it.[25] Alcohol also increased consciously perceived conflict while reducing subliminal conflict, indicating less attention to weak signals rather than a unitary control deficit.[26] Reward processing in latent toxoplasmosis was altered through additional resource allocation.[27]
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation causally improved recognition of easily decoded facial emotions, linking bodily neuromodulation to social perception.[28] Together these studies showed that the direction of an effect depends on task content, salience and current physiological state.
In plain terms: The same biological manipulation can help one operation and harm another, so mechanism and context must be specified together.
What 2017 added up to
What 2017 added up to
The 2017 work placed sensory coding and neuromodulatory preparation at the heart of action control. It also demonstrated why clinical and state effects must be localized within a processing cascade instead of summarized as globally better or worse control.
Selected publications
Selected publications
Curated from PubMed records returned for Beste C[au] in 2017. Citation numbers in the story link to entries below. DOI links open the publisher landing page; PubMed links open the indexed record.
1. Distinguishing stimulus and response codes in theta oscillations in prefrontal areas during inhibitory control of automated responses.
1. Distinguishing stimulus and response codes in theta oscillations in prefrontal areas during inhibitory control of automated responses.
Mückschel M, Dippel G, Beste C. Human brain mapping. 2017;38(11):5681-5690.
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23757 · PubMed
2. The norepinephrine system shows information-content specific properties during cognitive control - Evidence from EEG and pupillary responses.
2. The norepinephrine system shows information-content specific properties during cognitive control - Evidence from EEG and pupillary responses.
Mückschel M, Chmielewski W, Ziemssen T, Beste C. NeuroImage. 2017;149:44-52.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.01.036 · PubMed
3. Demands on response inhibition processes determine modulations of theta band activity in superior frontal areas and correlations with pupillometry - Implications for the norepinephrine system during inhibitory control.
3. Demands on response inhibition processes determine modulations of theta band activity in superior frontal areas and correlations with pupillometry - Implications for the norepinephrine system during inhibitory control.
Dippel G, Mückschel M, Ziemssen T, Beste C. NeuroImage. 2017;157:575-585.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.037 · PubMed
4. The norepinephrine system and its relevance for multi-component behavior.
4. The norepinephrine system and its relevance for multi-component behavior.
Mückschel M, Gohil K, Ziemssen T, Beste C. NeuroImage. 2017;146:1062-1070.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.10.007 · PubMed
5. The norepinephrine system affects specific neurophysiological subprocesses in the modulation of inhibitory control by working memory demands.
5. The norepinephrine system affects specific neurophysiological subprocesses in the modulation of inhibitory control by working memory demands.
Chmielewski WX, Mückschel M, Ziemssen T, Beste C. Human brain mapping. 2017;38(1):68-81.
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23344 · PubMed
6. Blocking effects in non-conditioned goal-directed behaviour.
6. Blocking effects in non-conditioned goal-directed behaviour.
Stock AK, Gohil K, Beste C. Brain structure & function. 2017;222(6):2807-2818.
DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1373-7 · PubMed
7. Testing interactive effects of automatic and conflict control processes during response inhibition - A system neurophysiological study.
7. Testing interactive effects of automatic and conflict control processes during response inhibition - A system neurophysiological study.
Chmielewski WX, Beste C. NeuroImage. 2017;146:1149-1156.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.10.015 · PubMed
8. On the dependence of response inhibition processes on sensory modality.
8. On the dependence of response inhibition processes on sensory modality.
Bodmer B, Beste C. Human brain mapping. 2017;38(4):1941-1951.
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23495 · PubMed
9. Somatosensory lateral inhibition processes modulate motor response inhibition - an EEG source localization study.
9. Somatosensory lateral inhibition processes modulate motor response inhibition - an EEG source localization study.
Friedrich J, Mückschel M, Beste C. Scientific reports. 2017;7(1):4454.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-04887-z · PubMed
10. On the effects of multimodal information integration in multitasking.
10. On the effects of multimodal information integration in multitasking.
Stock AK, Gohil K, Huster RJ, Beste C. Scientific reports. 2017;7(1):4927.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-04828-w · PubMed
11. Sensory processes modulate differences in multi-component behavior and cognitive control between childhood and adulthood.
11. Sensory processes modulate differences in multi-component behavior and cognitive control between childhood and adulthood.
Gohil K, Bluschke A, Roessner V, Stock AK, Beste C. Human brain mapping. 2017;38(10):4933-4945.
DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23705 · PubMed
12. Reversal of alcohol-induced effects on response control due to changes in proprioceptive information processing.
12. Reversal of alcohol-induced effects on response control due to changes in proprioceptive information processing.
Stock AK, Mückschel M, Beste C. Addiction biology. 2017;22(1):246-256.
DOI: 10.1111/adb.12296 · PubMed
13. Neurophysiological mechanisms of circadian cognitive control in RLS patients - an EEG source localization study.
13. Neurophysiological mechanisms of circadian cognitive control in RLS patients - an EEG source localization study.
Zhang R, Brandt MD, Schrempf W, Beste C, Stock AK. NeuroImage. Clinical. 2017;15:644-652.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.06.018 · PubMed
14. Neural mechanisms and functional neuroanatomical networks during memory and cue-based task switching as revealed by residue iteration decomposition (RIDE) based source localization.
14. Neural mechanisms and functional neuroanatomical networks during memory and cue-based task switching as revealed by residue iteration decomposition (RIDE) based source localization.
Wolff N, Mückschel M, Beste C. Brain structure & function. 2017;222(8):3819-3831.
DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1437-8 · PubMed
15. On the relevance of the alpha frequency oscillation's small-world network architecture for cognitive flexibility.
15. On the relevance of the alpha frequency oscillation's small-world network architecture for cognitive flexibility.
Wolff N, Zink N, Stock AK, Beste C. Scientific reports. 2017;7(1):13910.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14490-x · PubMed
16. Modulations of cognitive flexibility in obsessive compulsive disorder reflect dysfunctions of perceptual categorization.
16. Modulations of cognitive flexibility in obsessive compulsive disorder reflect dysfunctions of perceptual categorization.
Wolff N, Buse J, Tost J, Roessner V, Beste C. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines. 2017;58(8):939-949.
DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12733 · PubMed
17. Specific neurophysiological mechanisms underlie cognitive inflexibility in inflammatory bowel disease.
17. Specific neurophysiological mechanisms underlie cognitive inflexibility in inflammatory bowel disease.
Petruo VA, Zeißig S, Schmelz R, Hampe J, Beste C. Scientific reports. 2017;7(1):13943.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14345-5 · PubMed
18. Are multitasking abilities impaired in welders exposed to manganese? Translating cognitive neuroscience to neurotoxicology.
18. Are multitasking abilities impaired in welders exposed to manganese? Translating cognitive neuroscience to neurotoxicology.
van Thriel C, Quetscher C, Pesch B, Lotz A, et al.. Archives of toxicology. 2017;91(8):2865-2877.
DOI: 10.1007/s00204-017-1932-y · PubMed
19. ADHD patients fail to maintain task goals in face of subliminally and consciously induced cognitive conflicts.
19. ADHD patients fail to maintain task goals in face of subliminally and consciously induced cognitive conflicts.
Gohil K, Bluschke A, Roessner V, Stock AK, Beste C. Psychological medicine. 2017;47(10):1771-1783.
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291717000216 · PubMed
20. Neuronal Intra-Individual Variability Masks Response Selection Differences between ADHD Subtypes-A Need to Change Perspectives.
20. Neuronal Intra-Individual Variability Masks Response Selection Differences between ADHD Subtypes-A Need to Change Perspectives.
Bluschke A, Chmielewski WX, Mückschel M, Roessner V, Beste C. Frontiers in human neuroscience. 2017;11:329.
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00329 · PubMed
21. Response inhibition in Attention deficit disorder and neurofibromatosis type 1 - clinically similar, neurophysiologically different.
21. Response inhibition in Attention deficit disorder and neurofibromatosis type 1 - clinically similar, neurophysiologically different.
Bluschke A, von der Hagen M, Papenhagen K, Roessner V, Beste C. Scientific reports. 2017;7:43929.
DOI: 10.1038/srep43929 · PubMed
22. Conflict processing in juvenile patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and healthy controls - Two pathways to success.
22. Conflict processing in juvenile patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and healthy controls - Two pathways to success.
Bluschke A, von der Hagen M, Papenhagen K, Roessner V, Beste C. NeuroImage. Clinical. 2017;14:499-505.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.02.014 · PubMed
23. Evidence for enhanced multi-component behaviour in Tourette syndrome - an EEG study.
23. Evidence for enhanced multi-component behaviour in Tourette syndrome - an EEG study.
Brandt VC, Stock AK, Münchau A, Beste C. Scientific reports. 2017;7(1):7722.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08158-9 · PubMed
24. Dysfunctions in striatal microstructure can enhance perceptual decision making through deficits in predictive coding.
24. Dysfunctions in striatal microstructure can enhance perceptual decision making through deficits in predictive coding.
Beste C, Mückschel M, Rosales R, Domingo A, et al.. Brain structure & function. 2017;222(8):3807-3817.
DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1435-x · PubMed
25. Effects of binge drinking and hangover on response selection sub-processes-a study using EEG and drift diffusion modeling.
25. Effects of binge drinking and hangover on response selection sub-processes-a study using EEG and drift diffusion modeling.
Stock AK, Hoffmann S, Beste C. Addiction biology. 2017;22(5):1355-1365.
DOI: 10.1111/adb.12412 · PubMed
26. Opposite effects of binge drinking on consciously vs. subliminally induced cognitive conflicts.
26. Opposite effects of binge drinking on consciously vs. subliminally induced cognitive conflicts.
Stock AK, Wolff N, Beste C. NeuroImage. 2017;162:117-126.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.08.066 · PubMed
27. Humans with latent toxoplasmosis display altered reward modulation of cognitive control.
27. Humans with latent toxoplasmosis display altered reward modulation of cognitive control.
Stock AK, Dajkic D, Köhling HL, von Heinegg EH, Fiedler M, Beste C. Scientific reports. 2017;7(1):10170.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10926-6 · PubMed
28. Darwin revisited: The vagus nerve is a causal element in controlling recognition of other's emotions.
28. Darwin revisited: The vagus nerve is a causal element in controlling recognition of other's emotions.
Colzato LS, Sellaro R, Beste C. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior. 2017;92:95-102.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.03.017 · PubMed
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