Neural context defines response to visual information
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1
Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Germany
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2
Massachusetts General Hospital, United States
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3
Northeastern University, United States
The classical neuroscience paradigm considers brain areas as independent modules subserving specific cognitive functions. In this fMRI study, we use a simple method to reveal brain areas that respond to visual information in opposite ways as a function of contemporaneous activity in the well-known default mode network (DMN). Specifically, we first measured the degree of identifiability and core affective values attributed to a set of blurred visual objects by a group of participants. We then had another group of participants perform a 2-back working memory task with these objects. We defined the DMN in each subject by computing a rest vs. task contrast, averaged activity across voxels and deconvolved the hemodynamic signal to recover a non-lagged estimation of neural activity in the DMN. We then performed a median split on this activity during task periods to define a two by two design with level of DMN activity as one factor and levels of identifiability (and core affective value) as the second factor. Using a whole brain analysis strategy, we reveal areas where the two factors interact in the medial prefrontal, orbital and temporal cortices. When DMN activity is high, these areas respond more to high ambiguity and low pleasantness, whereas when DMN activity is low, they respond more to low ambiguity and high pleasantness. These results imply a high response plasticity of these regions, where brain responses are entirely conditioned by the contemporaneous level of activity in the DMN. These results impose a profound reconceptualization of brain function. In line with the neural context hypothesis (McIntosh 2004), these results show that – at least some – brain areas function in direct dependence to the concomitant activity in remote areas such as those of the DMN. Funding: This work was funded by a NIH Pioneer Director's Grant to LFB.
Keywords:
Brain Signals,
fMRI
Conference:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster Sessions: Modeling and Analysis of Brain Signals
Citation:
Chaumon
M,
Kveraga
K,
Bar
M and
Barrett
LF
(2011). Neural context defines response to visual information.
Conference Abstract:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00176
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Received:
18 Nov 2011;
Published Online:
28 Nov 2011.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Max Chaumon, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Berlin, Germany, maximilien.chaumon@gmail.com