Researchers at the University of Iowa have uncovered more detail about how the brain’s frontoparietal cortex helps manage information during decision-making, according to ScienceDaily. The network is often described as the brain’s information hub because it helps sort through incoming signals and guide responses.
In the study, scientists examined what happens when people face uncertainty while learning and revising rules. They used a mix of computational modeling and functional MRI to see how the frontoparietal cortex interacts with other brain regions as the demands of a task change.
The team worked with 38 participants ages 18 to 35. Volunteers learned associations between colors, faces and scenes and specific button presses, then had those pairings changed so they had to figure out the new rules and respond correctly.
According to the researchers, the frontoparietal cortex does not communicate with the rest of the brain in one fixed pattern. Instead, its connections shift depending on what information is needed at each stage of a decision.
The findings may help future research into neurological and psychiatric conditions where this kind of information exchange may work differently, including ADHD and schizophrenia, the study notes.
