Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex supports context-dependent prioritisation of off-task thought

A. Turnbull (), H. T. Wang, C. Murphy, N. S. P. Ho, X. Wang, M. Sormaz, T. Karapanagiotidis, R. M. Leech, B. Bernhardt, D. S. Margulies, D. Vatansever, E. Jefferies and J. Smallwood
Additional contact information
A. Turnbull: University of York
H. T. Wang: University of York
C. Murphy: University of York
N. S. P. Ho: University of York
X. Wang: University of York
M. Sormaz: University of York
T. Karapanagiotidis: University of York
R. M. Leech: Centre for Neuroimaging Science, Kings College
B. Bernhardt: Multimodal Imaging and Connectome Analysis Lab, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University
D. S. Margulies: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7225, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle epiniere
D. Vatansever: Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-inspired Intelligence, Fudan University
E. Jefferies: University of York
J. Smallwood: University of York

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract When environments lack compelling goals, humans often let their minds wander to thoughts with greater personal relevance; however, we currently do not understand how this context-dependent prioritisation process operates. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) maintains goal representations in a context-dependent manner. Here, we show this region is involved in prioritising off-task thought in an analogous way. In a whole brain analysis we established that neural activity in DLPFC is high both when ‘on-task’ under demanding conditions and ‘off-task’ in a non-demanding task. Furthermore, individuals who increase off-task thought when external demands decrease, show lower correlation between neural signals linked to external tasks and lateral regions of the DMN within DLPFC, as well as less cortical grey matter in regions sensitive to these external task relevant signals. We conclude humans prioritise daydreaming when environmental demands decrease by aligning cognition with their personal goals using DLPFC.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11764-y

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