7/31/2023

LECTURE 11
COGNITIVE CONTROL: GOVERNANCE OF GOAL-DIRECTED BEHAVIOR
BRIEF COURSE OVERVIEW AND CONCLUSION
COGNITIVE CONTROL AND CLINICAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE (IVY CHO, M.A.)

Please note: Today’s guest lecture IS testable on the Final Exam

PSYB55: INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE | UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, SCARBOROUGH | PROF. MICHAEL SOUZA

Lecture objectives
 To articulate what is meant by cognitive control and hierarchical brain
organization, as well as why prefrontal cortex (PFC) is ideally situated to
be the executive atop the hierarchy;

 To describe Miller & Cohen’s (2001) framework for the core necessities
of an executive system, drawing upon new and previously discussed
research to support each aspect of this framework;

 To briefly “zoom out” and reflect upon the breadth and depth of content
we’ve covered this term, including the skill development pieces;

 To distinguish between the reactive and proactive forms of cognitive

control, and to analyze intrapersonal variation in neurotypical individuals
and interpersonal variation across a range of clinical conditions [guest
lecture]

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Conceptualizing goals and goal-directed behavior

How are goals derived?

How do we maintain goal-relevant information?

WORKING MEMORY

How do we manage distractions and suppress

actions as appropriate?
INHIBITION

How do we alter our behavior when we err or

when circumstances happen to change?
COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY

How do we break down complex goals into a

reasonable steps that are prioritized?
PLANNING

How do we navigate and solve novel problems

that stand between us and goal completion?
REASONING/PROBLEM-SOLVING
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Executive functions “vs” cognitive control

Clinical, cognitive neuroscience domains

“CEO and executive committee” analogy

Prefrontal cortex (PFC)

PFC = [Frontal lobe] – [Motor cortex]
The “cognitive” portion of the frontal lobes
Sub-regions of PFC and functional specificity

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Curtis & D’Esposito (2003), Trends in Cognitive Science, 7(9), 415-23

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Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region Alexander Luria

1902-1977
Generate neural activity that biases other regions

Unit 1. Generalized function, regulates levels of activation and states of vigilance

Unit 2. Registers, analyzes and stores information in sensory-related cortices
Unit 3. Programs and controls mental activity and behavior
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Christensen & Caetano (1996), Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 6(4), 279-303

Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity that biases other regions

Cognitive models of the Stroop Task 6

Miller & Cohen (2001), Ann Rev Neurosci, 24, 167-202

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Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity that biases other regions

enhancement

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Gazzaley, Cooney, McEvoy, Knight & D’Esposito (2005), J Cog Neuro, 17(3), 507-17
suppression

Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity that biases other regions

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Anderson et al. (2004), Science, 303, 232-235

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Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions

Dopamine projected to the prefrontal cortex

Increases the “signal to noise” (SNR) ratio in PFC neurons

Dopamine blockers impair WM nearly as much as a PFC lesion (Collins et al., 1998)
Cooling the non-human primate PFC has a comparable effect (Bauer & Fuster, 1976)

Dopamine stimulants (e.g., Ritalin) can enhance WM functioning 9

Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions

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D’Esposito, Postle, Jonides & Smith (1999), Proc Natl Acad Sci, 96, 7514-19.

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Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions
Housing “appropriate representations”

Picture: Gazzaniga’s Cog Neuro (3rd ed)

Courtesy of M. D’Esposito
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Mesulum (1986), Annals of Neurology, 19(4), 320-5.

Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions
Housing “appropriate representations”
Plasticity

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Lhermette, Pillon & Serdaru (1986), Annals of Neurology, 19(4), 326-34.

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Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions
Housing “appropriate representations”
Plasticity

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Lhermette (1986), Annals of Neurology, 19(4), 335-43.

Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions
Housing “appropriate representations”
Plasticity

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Lhermette (1986), Annals of Neurology, 19(4), 335-43.

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Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions
Housing “appropriate representations”
Plasticity

Utilization behaviors and the greater “Environmental Dependency Syndrome” 15

Lhermette (1986), Annals of Neurology, 19(4), 335-43.

Necessary components of an executive region

(Miller & Cohen, 2001)

“Musts” for an executive region

Generate neural activity…
Maintenance in the face of distractions
Housing “appropriate representations”
Plasticity

The importance of counterfactual thinking

Van Hoeck et al. (2013), Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 8, 556-64. 16
Beldarrain, Garcia-Monco, Astigarraga, Gonzalez & Grafman (2005), Cog Brain Res, 24(3), 723-6

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LECTURE 11
COGNITIVE CONTROL: GOVERNANCE OF GOAL-DIRECTED BEHAVIOR
BRIEF COURSE OVERVIEW AND CONCLUSION
COGNITIVE CONTROL AND CLINICAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE (IVY CHO, M.A.)

Please note: Today’s guest lecture IS testable on the Final Exam

PSYB55: INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE | UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, SCARBOROUGH | PROF. MICHAEL SOUZA

Stimulus/ Response/
input output

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DECONSTRUCTING SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS TO BEST CONVEY YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Read the question very carefully; ideally, multiple times
Identify the specific questions/elements you need to address
Outline the pieces of your response
Transition from outline to response

GENERATING CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTS

The mental ability to ramp up (or down) an emotional experience

Emotion
In this experiment, participants will look at neutral or negative
regulation
picture and either (1) view it as normal (baseline), or (2) imagine
that the situation is far worse than it looks (ramp up), or (3)
imagine that the situation is far better than it looks (ramp down)

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Developing a schema for reading empirical articles

DECONSTRUCTING AN ABSTRACT
Blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah
blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

DECONSTRUCTING AN INTRODUCTION
Sets up the context; what we know and knowledge gap(s); goal(s) of present work
Value of concisely synthesizing paragraphs to demonstrate conceptual understanding

MAKING A VISUAL FOR THE METHODS FIGURE/GRAPH ANALYSIS FOR RESULTS

DECONSTRUCTING A DISCUSSION SECTION

Review the major elements; integration of research findings; limitations and future directions
Value of concisely synthesizing paragraphs to demonstrate conceptual understanding
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