Computational and neural mechanisms of task switching

  • Authors:

  • Jeremy R. Reynolds;Todd S. Braver;Joshua W. Brown;Stefan Van der Stigchel

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Psychology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA;Department of Psychology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA;Department of Psychology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA;Department of Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  • Venue:
  • Neurocomputing
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

Switching between tasks that overlap in perceptual and response characteristics is assumed to rely upon the maintenance of task representations in prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, task-switching studies demonstrate ''switch costs,'' even when there is sufficient time to prepare for a new task. These costs suggest that task-switching performance reflects a complex interplay between priming and the updating and maintenance of task representations. We describe a computational model in which this interaction is made explicit and linked to the dynamics of PFC. Simulation results account for a variety of empirical phenomena and predict a double dissociation in lateral PFC that was subsequently identified.