Experimental Psychology Department, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands.
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 Sep 30;8:761. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00761. eCollection 2014.
Executive-attention theory proposes a close relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and cognitive control abilities. However, conflicting results are documented in the literature, with some studies reporting that individual variations in WMC predict differences in cognitive control and trial-to-trial control adjustments (operationalized as the size of the congruency effect and congruency sequence effects, respectively), while others report no WMC-related differences. We hypothesized that brain network dynamics might be a more sensitive measure of WMC-related differences in cognitive control abilities. Thus, in the present study, we measured human EEG during the Simon task to characterize WMC-related differences in the neural dynamics of conflict processing and adaptation to conflict. Although high- and low-WMC individuals did not differ behaviorally, there were substantial WMC-related differences in theta (4-8 Hz) and delta (1-3 Hz) connectivity in fronto-parietal networks. Group differences in local theta and delta power were relatively less pronounced. These results suggest that the relationship between WMC and cognitive control abilities is more strongly reflected in large-scale oscillatory network dynamics than in spatially localized activity or in behavioral task performance.
执行注意理论提出，工作记忆容量（WMC）与认知控制能力密切相关。然而，文献中记录了相互矛盾的结果，一些研究报告称，WMC 的个体差异预测了认知控制和试验间控制调整（分别用一致性效应和一致性序列效应的大小来操作化）的差异，而另一些研究则报告说 WMC 没有相关差异。我们假设，脑网络动力学可能是衡量认知控制能力中与 WMC 相关差异的更敏感指标。因此，在本研究中，我们在 Simon 任务期间测量了人类 EEG，以描述冲突处理和适应冲突的神经动力学中与 WMC 相关的差异。尽管高 WMC 和低 WMC 个体在行为上没有差异，但在前顶叶网络中，theta（4-8 Hz）和 delta（1-3 Hz）连通性存在明显的与 WMC 相关的差异。局部 theta 和 delta 功率的组间差异相对不那么明显。这些结果表明，WMC 与认知控制能力之间的关系在大规模振荡网络动力学中比在空间局部活动或行为任务表现中更为强烈。
