Trends in Neurosciences
Volume 37, Issue 9, September 2014, Pages 480-490
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Opinion
A neural microcircuit for cognitive conflict detection and signaling

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Highlights

  • Medial frontal theta (∼6 Hz) is associated with human cognitive control processes.

  • There is no theory or model that can account for these findings.

  • A novel microcircuit model accounts for behavioral and neural findings.

  • Microcircuits may implement the building-blocks of cognition.

  • Linking cognition to oscillations facilitates linking cognition to microcircuits.

During human response conflict – competition between multiple conflicting actions when a mistake could be made – a specific pattern of brain electrical activity occurs over the medial frontal cortex (MFC), characterized by modulations of ongoing theta-band (∼6 Hz) oscillations and synchronization with task-relevant brain regions. Despite the replicable and robust findings linking MFC theta to conflict processing, the significance of MFC theta for how neural microcircuits actually detect conflict and broadcast that signal is unknown. A neural MFC microcircuit model is proposed for processing conflict and generating theta oscillations. The model makes several novel predictions for the causes and consequences of MFC theta and conflict processing, and may be relevant for understanding the neural implementations of related cognitive processes.

Section snippets

Cognitive control, conflict processing, and the need for biologically inspired theories

Cognitive control refers to the ability to monitor one's actions and the external environment for mistakes, conflicts, and negative performance feedback, and to initiate rapid but flexible action adjustments to optimize goal-directed behavior 1, 2. It is one of the most important sets of cognitive functions for success in a complex and rapidly changing world, and individual differences in these abilities predict real-world outcomes including academic success and career choices 3, 4.

The need for

Behavioral manifestations of conflict

Response conflict occurs when one response is automatically activated by a task-irrelevant feature (such as the physical location of the stimulus) whereas a different response is activated by the task instructions that often entail arbitrary stimulus–response mappings such as pressing the left-hand button for a purple stimulus. The competition between the fast automatic response and the slow task-relevant response [14] generates conflict, particularly when subjects are encouraged to respond

Electrophysiological manifestations of conflict processing

Many cognitive control processes have been associated with the MFC. Conflict per se engages the (pre-)supplementary motor area more than the anterior cingulate cortex [30]. Much has been learned about the brain regions involved in cognitive control from studying the fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response 1, 31. However, due to uncertainties in the precise interpretation of the BOLD response 32, 33, 34, 35, findings from electrophysiological investigations provide firmer grounding

Theta is theta is theta?

Memory [49], feedback and feedback-driven learning 50, 51, response errors [52], other cognitive control processes 38, 53, and quiet resting [54] have also been associated with theta oscillations in the prefrontal cortex. At initial glance this may suggest that theta oscillations serve a single functional purpose that is common to all cognitive processes supported by the prefrontal cortex. Alternatively, it is possible that the intrinsic architecture of the prefrontal cortex supports theta-band

Layers and microcircuits in the MFC

The MFC, similarly to the rest of cortex, is organized in a laminar fashion 64, 65, 66, with specific types of cells and patterns of connectivity within and across layers (Figure 2A). However, MFC regions implicated in conflict processing have relatively low cell density and few parvalbumin-positive interneurons [67], and contain no layer 4, which is the primary thalamic input layer. Although there are sparse inputs to layer 3 from the anterior and mediodorsal thalamic nuclei 68, 69, it is

Functional implications of MFC theta for action monitoring and conflict processing

Although research to date has unequivocally shown that human MFC theta oscillations are a marker of conflict processing, it remains unclear what functional role – if any – theta might have in the neural implementations of conflict computations. Modern theories on the role of brain oscillations in computation generally suggest that oscillations form a cyclic temporal reference frame for organizing information processing. In this light, the functional implication is that MFC theta may serve to

Concluding remarks

Multiscale and neurobiologically informed approaches to understanding the neural implementations of cognitive processes are becoming increasingly important, particularly because ‘neural correlates of’ studies may be approaching a ceiling of neurobiologically relevant insights [117]. As the neuroscientific understanding of how neurons and microcircuits implement computations becomes increasingly well understood, the biological plausibility of cognitive neuroscience theories must be

Acknowledgments

M.XC. is funded by a VIDI grant from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Thanks to Rasa Gulbinaite and two anonymous reviewers for critical comments on the manuscript.

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