rule-guided executive control of response inhibition functional topography of the inferior frontal cortexrule-guided执行控制的额皮层反应抑制功能的地形.pdfVIP

Rule-Guided Executive Control of Response Inhibition: Functional Topography of the Inferior Frontal Cortex 1,2 1 Weidong Cai *, Hoi-Chung Leung * 1 Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America, 2 Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America Abstract Background: The human inferior frontal cortex (IFC) is a large heterogeneous structure with distinct cytoarchitectonic subdivisions and fiber connections. It has been found involved in a wide range of executive control processes from target detection, rule retrieval to response control. Since these processes are often being studied separately, the functional organization of executive control processes within the IFC remains unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings: We conducted an fMRI study to examine the activities of the subdivisions of IFC during the presentation of a task cue (rule retrieval) and during the performance of a stop-signal task (requiring response generation and inhibition) in comparison to a not-stop task (requiring response generation but not inhibition). We utilized a mixed event-related and block design to separate brain activity in correspondence to transient control processes from rule- related and sustained control processes. We found differentiation in control processes within the IFC. Our findings reveal that the bilateral ventral-posterior IFC/anterior insula are more active on both successful and unsuccessful stop trials relative to not-stop trials, suggesting their potential role in the early stage of stopping such as triggering the stop process. Direct countermanding seems to be outside of the IFC. In contrast, the dorsal-posterior IFC/inferior fron