Macroscale brain states support the control of semantic cognition

Xiuyi Wang; Katya Krieger-Redwood; Yanni Cui; Jonathan Smallwood; Yi Du; Elizabeth Jefferies

doi:10.1038/s42003-024-06630-7

Macroscale brain states support the control of semantic cognition

Xiuyi Wang^*, Katya Krieger-Redwood, Yanni Cui, Jonathan Smallwood, Yi Du^*, Elizabeth Jefferies^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A crucial aim in neuroscience is to understand how the human brain adapts to varying cognitive demands. This study investigates network reconfiguration during controlled semantic retrieval in differing contexts. We analyze brain responses to two semantic tasks of varying difficulty – global association and feature matching judgments – which are contrasted with non-semantic tasks on the cortical surface and within a whole-brain state space. Demanding semantic association tasks elicit activation in anterior prefrontal and temporal regions, while challenging semantic feature matching and non-semantic tasks predominantly activate posterior regions. Task difficulty also modulates activation along different dimensions of functional organization, suggesting different mechanisms of cognitive control. More demanding semantic association judgments engage cognitive control and default mode networks together, while feature matching and non-semantic tasks are skewed towards cognitive control networks. These findings highlight the brain’s dynamic ability to tailor its networks to support diverse neurocognitive states, enriching our understanding of controlled cognition.

Original language	English
Article number	926
Number of pages	17
Journal	Communications Biology
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06630-7
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2024

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© The Author(s) 2024.

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s42003-024-06630-7
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Cite this

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AU - Jefferies, Elizabeth

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Macroscale brain states support the control of semantic cognition

Abstract

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