Fronto-parietal networks underlie the interaction between executive control and conscious perception: Evidence from TMS and DWI
Identificadores
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10481/99888Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
conscious perception DWI executive control TMS
Fecha
2021Resumen
The executive control network is involved in novel situations or those in which prepotent
responses need to be overridden. Previous studies have demonstrated that when control is
exerted, conscious perception is impaired, and this effect is related to the functional
connectivity of fronto-parietal regions. In the present study, we explored the causal
involvement of one of the nodes of this fronto-parietal network (the right Supplementary
Motor Area, SMA) in the interaction between executive control and conscious perception.
Participants performed a dual task in which they responded to a Stroop task while
detecting the presence/absence of a near-threshold Gabor stimulus. Concurrently, trans
cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied over the right SMA or a control site (vertex;
Experiment 1). As a further control, the right Frontal Eye Field (FEF) was stimulated in
Experiment 2. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) tractography was used to isolate the three
branches of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF I, II and III), and the frontal aslant
tract (FAT), and to explore if TMS effects were related to their micro- and macrostructural
characteristics. Results demonstrated reduced perceptual sensitivity on incongruent as
compared to congruent Stroop trials. A causal role of the right SMA on the modulation of
perceptual sensitivity by executive control was only demonstrated when the microstruc
ture of the right SLF III or the left FAT were taken into account. The volume of the right SLF
III was also related to the modulation of response criterion by executive control when the
right FEF was stimulated. These results add evidence in favor of shared neural correlates
for attention and conscious perception in fronto-parietal regions and highlight the role of
white matter in TMS effects.