Context-independent scaling of neural responses to task difficulty in the multiple-demand network.

ABSTRACT: The multiple-demand (MD) network is sensitive to many aspects of cognitive demand, showing increased activation with more difficult tasks. However, it is currently unknown whether the MD network is modulated by the context in which task difficulty is experienced. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined MD network responses to low, medium, and high difficulty arithmetic problems within 2 cued contexts, an easy versus a hard set. The results showed that MD activity varied reliably with the absolute difficulty of a problem, independent of the context in which the problem was presented. Similarly, MD activity during task execution was independent of the difficulty of the previous trial. Representational similarity analysis further supported that representational distances in t

SUBMITTER: Wen T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10183747 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature