Khan Anas U, Hoy Colin W, Anderson Kristopher L, Piai Vitoria, King-Stephens David, Laxer Kenneth D, Weber Peter, Lin Jack J, Knight Robert T, Bentley J Nicole
Department of Neurosurgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
iScience. 2025 Aug 14;28(9):113375. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113375. eCollection 2025 Sep 19.
Goal-directed behavior requires adjusting cognitive control, both in preparation for and in reaction to conflict. Theta oscillations and population activity in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) are known to support reactive control. Here, we investigated their role in proactive control using human intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings during a Stroop task that manipulated conflict expectations. During response selection, conflict processing enhanced dlPFC beta desynchronization, dmPFC theta increases, and high-frequency activity (HFA, which indexes local population activity) in both regions. After responses, conflict suppressed theta and boosted beta rebounds in both regions. Importantly, pre-trial dmPFC theta increased when conflict was anticipated, and within-trial theta, beta, and HFA dynamics were accentuated when conflict was rare. These findings reveal how the balance of reactive and proactive control modulates shared HFA and dissociable theta-beta conflict signals in dmPFC and dlPFC and identifies pre-trial dmPFC theta as a candidate substrate for proactive control.
目标导向行为需要在冲突的准备阶段和反应阶段调整认知控制。已知背内侧前额叶皮层（dmPFC）和背外侧前额叶皮层（dlPFC）中的θ振荡和群体活动支持反应性控制。在此，我们在一项操纵冲突预期的Stroop任务中使用人类颅内脑电图（EEG）记录，研究了它们在主动控制中的作用。在反应选择期间，冲突处理增强了dlPFC的β去同步化、dmPFC的θ增加以及两个区域的高频活动（HFA，其为局部群体活动的指标）。反应之后，冲突抑制了两个区域的θ并增强了β反弹。重要的是，当预期到冲突时，试前dmPFC的θ增加，并且当冲突罕见时，试内θ、β和HFA动态会加剧。这些发现揭示了反应性和主动性控制的平衡如何调节dmPFC和dlPFC中共享的HFA以及可分离的θ-β冲突信号，并将试前dmPFC的θ确定为主动控制的候选底物。
