Dehaene S, Kerszberg M, Changeux J P
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 334, Service hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique, 4 Place du Général Leclerc, 91401 Orsay, France.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Nov 24;95(24):14529-34. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.24.14529.
A minimal hypothesis is proposed concerning the brain processes underlying effortful tasks. It distinguishes two main computational spaces: a unique global workspace composed of distributed and heavily interconnected neurons with long-range axons, and a set of specialized and modular perceptual, motor, memory, evaluative, and attentional processors. Workspace neurons are mobilized in effortful tasks for which the specialized processors do not suffice. They selectively mobilize or suppress, through descending connections, the contribution of specific processor neurons. In the course of task performance, workspace neurons become spontaneously coactivated, forming discrete though variable spatio-temporal patterns subject to modulation by vigilance signals and to selection by reward signals. A computer simulation of the Stroop task shows workspace activation to increase during acquisition of a novel task, effortful execution, and after errors. We outline predictions for spatio-temporal activation patterns during brain imaging, particularly about the contribution of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate to the workspace.
提出了一个关于费力任务背后大脑过程的最小假设。它区分了两个主要的计算空间：一个由具有长轴突的分布式且高度互连的神经元组成的独特全局工作空间，以及一组专门的模块化感知、运动、记忆、评估和注意力处理器。工作空间神经元在专门处理器不足以完成的费力任务中被调动起来。它们通过下行连接选择性地调动或抑制特定处理器神经元的贡献。在任务执行过程中，工作空间神经元会自发地共同激活，形成离散但可变的时空模式，这些模式会受到警觉信号的调制和奖励信号的选择。对斯特鲁普任务的计算机模拟显示，在新任务的习得、费力执行期间以及错误之后，工作空间的激活会增加。我们概述了对脑成像期间时空激活模式的预测，特别是关于背外侧前额叶皮层和前扣带回对工作空间的贡献。
