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Multi-level decoding of task set representations in neurophysiological data during cognitive flexibility
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Description: To achieve goals, cognitive flexibility is important. Cognitive theories assume that the representation of task rules is central to understand cognitive flexibility. However, how this representational dynamic is implemented on a neurophysiology level is widely elusive. Using EEG-based MVPA-methods we show that relevant representational content is evident at multiple levels in the neurophysiological signal (i.e., during stimulus-related processing, response selection and motor response execution), occurs parallel in time and relates to different brain regions. The intensity with which these different representational levels are processed dynamically decreases and increases. The temporal stability of these representations can, however, hardly explain differences in behavioral performance. Rather, inhibitory control processes associated with left orbito-frontal regions and inferior parietal regions and selectively acting on invalid motor response representations are relevant. The study shows how propositions from cognitive theories stressing the importance of mental representations during cognitive flexibility are implemented on a neurophysiological level.