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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cognit.
Sec. Neural Networks and Cognition
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcogn.2024.1438390

Flexible encoding of multiple task dimensions in human cerebral cortex

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 University of Houston, Houston, TN, United States
  • 2 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
  • 3 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cognitive models have proposed that behavioral tasks can be categorized along at least three dimensions: the sensory-motor modality of the information, its representational format (e.g., location vs. identity), and the cognitive processes that transform it (e.g., response selection).Moreover, we can quickly and flexibly encode, represent, or manipulate information along any of these dimensions. How is this flexibility in encoding such information implemented in the cerebral cortex? To address this question, we devised a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments in each of which participants performed two distinct tasks that differed along one of the three dimensions. Using multivariate pattern analysis of the fMRI data, we were able to decode between tasks along at least one task dimension within each of the cortical regions activated by these tasks. Moreover, the multiple demand network, a system of brain regions previously associated with flexible task encoding, was largely composed of closely juxtaposed sets of voxels that were specialized along each of the three tested task dimensions. These results suggest that flexible task encoding is primarily achieved by the juxtaposition of specialized representations processing each task dimension in the multiple demand network.

    Keywords: Domain-general, cognitive resources, pattern analysis, MVPA, Decoding, fMRI, Multiple demand network, task positive network

    Received: 25 May 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tamber-Rosenau, Newton and Marois. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Benjamin J. Tamber-Rosenau, University of Houston, Houston, TN, United States
    René Marois, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 37240, Tennessee, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.