A cross-species simon-task: comparing conflict and error processing in rats and humans
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1
Max-Planck-Institute for Neurological Research, Germany
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2
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Netherlands
The Simon task, an interference task characterized by increased reaction times and error rates when task-irrelevant stimulus location and requested response are incongruent, is commonly used to study performance monitoring. The Simon interference effect has been described across several species, e.g. in pigeons, rats, monkeys and humans. Here we used an adapted auditory Simon task to investigate electrophysiological correlates of performance monitoring from a cross-species point of view. We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of 9 male rats, using 6 stainless steel depth electrodes, and additionally EEG from 19 male right-handed humans while performing the Simon task. Averaged LFPs from rat ACC were compared to human scalp event-related potentials (ERPs). Reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) was measured to assign ERP components to different time points of conflict processing. Furthermore, both species performed 3 subtasks with different relative frequencies of conflict trials (20%, 50%, 80%) and one with 60% trials without spatial dimension, 20% conflict and 20% non-conflict trials, to assess adaptation effects. On the one hand, both species seem to pursue similar response strategies, as both display a Simon effect in both RT and MT, but on the other hand they show different adaptation to varying conflict frequency. Additionally, both species demonstrate significant ERP differences between correct and incorrect responses starting at the time of response and prior to reward/no reward, suggesting that ACC is similarly involved in performance monitoring in both humans and rats. In conclusion, our study contributes to integrative, cross-species research and provides a useful rodent model for performance monitoring research.
Keywords:
cognitive control,
EEG
Conference:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster Sessions: Performance Monitoring and Cognitive Control
Citation:
Marx
C,
Endepols
H,
Graf
R and
Ullsperger
M
(2011). A cross-species simon-task: comparing conflict and error processing in rats and humans.
Conference Abstract:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00252
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Received:
21 Nov 2011;
Published Online:
28 Nov 2011.
*
Correspondence:
Ms. Christine Marx, Max-Planck-Institute for Neurological Research, Cologne, Germany, christine.marx@nf.mpg.de