EEG delta oscillations index inhibitory control of contextual novelty to both irrelevant distracters and relevant task-switch cues

Males and females of the same species are known to differ at least in some cognitive domains, but such differences are not systematic across species. As a consequence, it remains unclear whether reported differences generally reflect adaptive adjustments to diverging selective pressures, or whether differences are mere side products of physiological differences necessary for reproduction. Here, we show that sex differences in cognition occur even in a sex-changing species, a protogynous hermaphroditic species where all males have previously been females. We tested male and female cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus in four cognitive tasks to evaluate their learning and inhibitory control abilities first in an abstract presentation of the tasks, then in more ecologically relevant contexts. The results showed that males were better learners than females in the two learning tasks (i.e. reversal learning as an abstract task and a food quantity assessment task as an ecologically relevant task). Conversely, females showed enhanced abilities compared with males in the abstract inhibitory control task (i.e. detour task); but both sexes performed equally in the ecologically relevant inhibitory control task (i.e. ‘audience effect’ task). Hence, sex-changing species may offer unique opportunities to study proximate and/or ultimate causes underlying sex differences in cognitive abilities.

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A brain-potential study of preparation for and execution of a task-switch with stimuli that afford only the relevant task

Human Brain Mapping ◽

10.1002/hbm.21277 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 33 (5) ◽

pp. 1137-1154 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Heike Elchlepp ◽

Aureliu Lavric ◽

Guy A. Mizon ◽

Stephen Monsell

Keyword(s):

Task Switch ◽

Brain Potential ◽

Potential Study ◽

Relevant Task

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Switch costs in inhibitory control and voluntary behavior: A computational study of the antisaccade task

10.1101/313643 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Eduardo A. Aponte ◽

Klaas E. Stephan ◽

Jakob Heinzle

Keyword(s):

Inhibitory Control ◽

Computational Study ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Voluntary Action ◽

Task Switch ◽

Peripheral Stimulus ◽

Antisaccade Task ◽

Voluntary Behavior ◽

The Cost ◽

Habitual Responses

AbstractAn integral aspect of human cognition is the ability to inhibit habitual responses in order to initiate complex, rule-guided actions. Moreover, humans have also the ability to alternate between different sets of rules or tasks, at the cost of degraded performance when compared to repeating the same task, a phenomenon called the ‘task switch cost’. While it is recognized that switching between tasks requires often to inhibit habitual responses, the interaction between these two forms of cognitive control has been much less studied than each of them separately. Here, we use a computational model to draw a bridge between inhibitory control and voluntary action generation and thereby provide a novel account of seemingly paradoxical findings in the task switch literature. We investigated task switching in the mixed antisaccade task, in which participants are cued to saccade either in the same or in the opposite direction to a peripheral stimulus. Our model demonstrates that stopping a habitual action leads to increased inhibitory control that persists on the next trial. However, enhanced inhibition affects only the probability of generating habitual responses, and, contrary to previous accounts, cannot be characterized as proactive task interference. In addition, our model demonstrates that voluntary actions (but not habitual responses) are slower and more prompt to errors on switch trials compared to repeat trials. We conclude that precisely the interaction between these two effects explains a variety of contradictory findings reported in the literature.

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Rebound acid hypersecretion after ranitidine is not due to impaired inhibitory control

Gastroenterology ◽

10.1016/s0016-5085(01)80780-0 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 120 (5) ◽

pp. A158-A158 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D GILLEN ◽

A WIRZ ◽

K MCCOLL

Keyword(s):

Inhibitory Control ◽

Acid Hypersecretion

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Do Young Children Modulate Their Cognitive Control?

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000320 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 117-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Solène Ambrosi ◽

Patrick Lemaire ◽

Agnès Blaye

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Age Range ◽

Stroop Tasks ◽

And Task

Abstract. Dynamic, trial-by-trial modulations of inhibitory control are well documented in adults but rarely investigated in children. Here, we examined whether 5-to-7 year-old children, an age range when inhibitory control is still partially immature, achieve such modulations. Fifty three children took flanker, Simon, and Stroop tasks. Above and beyond classic congruency effects, the present results showed two crucial findings. First, we found evidence for sequential modulations of congruency effects in these young children in the three conflict tasks. Second, our results showed both task specificities and task commonalities. These findings in young children have important implications as they suggest that, to be modulated, inhibitory control does not require full maturation and that the precise pattern of trial-by-trial modulations may depend on the nature of conflict.

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A Review of the Role of Cue Processing in Task Switching

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000125 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 221 (1) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Kerstin Jost ◽

Wouter De Baene ◽

Iring Koch ◽

Marcel Brass

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Task Switching ◽

Task Switch ◽

Task Set ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Set Switching ◽

Controversial Topic ◽

Cue Encoding ◽

Cue Processing

The role of cue processing has become a controversial topic in research on cognitive control using task-switching procedures. Some authors suggested a priming account to explain switch costs as a form of encoding benefit when the cue from the previous trial is repeated and hence challenged theories that attribute task-switch costs to task-set (re)configuration. A rich body of empirical evidence has evolved that indeed shows that cue-encoding repetition priming is an important component in task switching. However, these studies also demonstrate that there are usually substantial “true” task-switch costs. Here, we review this behavioral, electrophysiological, and brain imaging evidence. Moreover, we describe alternative approaches to the explicit task-cuing procedure, such as the usage of transition cues or the task-span procedure. In addition, we address issues related to the type of cue, such as cue transparency. We also discuss methodological and theoretical implications and argue that the explicit task-cuing procedure is suitable to address issues of cognitive control and task-set switching.

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