Intrinsic Reward Motivates Shifts Between Cognitive Control and Default Mode Networks During Task Performance

• In Event: Innovations in Communication Science and Biology: Methodological and Theoretical Advancements (High-Density)

Abstract

Cognitive control explains the neuropsychological processes that underlie the successful completion of everyday tasks. A gap in our understanding is the way in which intrinsic rewards associated with a task motivate sustained control allocation. In three behavioral and one functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, we use a naturalistic and open-sourced simulator to show that changes in the balance between task difficulty and an individual’s ability to perform the task result in different levels of intrinsic reward, which motivates dynamic shifts between networked brain states. High levels of intrinsic reward associated with a balance between task difficulty and individual ability are associated with increased connectivity between cognitive control and reward networks. By comparison, a mismatch between task difficulty and individual ability is associated with lower levels of intrinsic reward and corresponds to increased activity within the default mode network. These results implicate reward processing as a critical component of cognitive control.

Authors

• Richard Huskey, The Ohio State University

• Britney Nicole Craighead

• Michael Miller, U of California, Santa Barbara

• Rene Weber, U of California - Santa Barbara