IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms11195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Surprise disrupts cognition via a fronto-basal ganglia suppressive mechanism

Author

Listed:
  • Jan R. Wessel

    (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Iowa
    Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa
    University of California)

  • Ned Jenkinson

    (John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford
    School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham)

  • John-Stuart Brittain

    (John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford)

  • Sarah H. E. M. Voets

    (John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford)

  • Tipu Z. Aziz

    (John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford)

  • Adam R. Aron

    (University of California)

Abstract

Surprising events markedly affect behaviour and cognition, yet the underlying mechanism is unclear. Surprise recruits a brain mechanism that globally suppresses motor activity, ostensibly via the subthalamic nucleus (STN) of the basal ganglia. Here, we tested whether this suppressive mechanism extends beyond skeletomotor suppression and also affects cognition (here, verbal working memory, WM). We recorded scalp-EEG (electrophysiology) in healthy participants and STN local field potentials in Parkinson’s patients during a task in which surprise disrupted WM. For scalp-EEG, surprising events engage the same independent neural signal component that indexes action stopping in a stop-signal task. Importantly, the degree of this recruitment mediates surprise-related WM decrements. Intracranially, STN activity is also increased post surprise, especially when WM is interrupted. These results suggest that surprise interrupts cognition via the same fronto-basal ganglia mechanism that interrupts action. This motivates a new neural theory of how cognition is interrupted, and how distraction arises after surprising events.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan R. Wessel & Ned Jenkinson & John-Stuart Brittain & Sarah H. E. M. Voets & Tipu Z. Aziz & Adam R. Aron, 2016. "Surprise disrupts cognition via a fronto-basal ganglia suppressive mechanism," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11195
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11195
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11195
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms11195?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.