Cortical and striatal contributions to automaticity in information-integration categorization.

TitleCortical and striatal contributions to automaticity in information-integration categorization.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsWaldschmidt, J. G., & F Ashby G.
JournalNeuroimage
Volume56
Issue3
Pagination1791-802
Date Published2011 Jun 01
ISSN1095-9572
KeywordsAdult, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Corpus Striatum, Feedback, Psychological, Female, Fixation, Ocular, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mental Processes, Nerve Net, Photic Stimulation, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Software, Young Adult
Abstract

In information-integration categorization, accuracy is maximized only if information from two or more stimulus components is integrated at some pre-decisional stage. In many cases the optimal strategy is difficult or impossible to describe verbally. Evidence suggests that success in information-integration tasks depends on procedural learning that is mediated largely within the striatum. Although many studies have examined initial information-integration learning, little is known about how automaticity develops in information-integration tasks. To address this issue, each of ten human participants received feedback training on the same information-integration categories for more than 11,000 trials spread over 20 different training sessions. Sessions 2, 4, 10, and 20 were performed inside an MRI scanner. The following results stood out. 1) Automaticity developed between sessions 10 and 20. 2) Pre-automatic performance depended on the putamen, but not on the body and tail of the caudate nucleus. 3) Automatic performance depended only on cortical regions, particularly the supplementary and pre-supplementary motor areas. 4) Feedback processing was mainly associated with deactivations in motor and premotor regions of cortex, and in the ventral lateral prefrontal cortex. 5) The overall effects of practice were consistent with the existing literature on the development of automaticity.

DOI10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.02.011
Alternate JournalNeuroimage
PubMed ID21316475
PubMed Central IDPMC3085658
Grant ListR01 MH063760 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
R01 MH063760-08 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
R01 MH3760-2 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States