The cognitive neuroscience of cognitive control
We use fMRI along with the study of brain-damaged and neurological patients to characterize the brain systems underlying cognitive control. We are interested, in particular, in how frontal/basal-ganglia circuits are engaged during cognition and in how pathology of these circuits relates to neuropsychiatric conditions such as impulse control disorders.
Aron, A.R & Poldrack, R.A (2006). Cortical and subcortical contributions to stop signal response inhibition: role of the subthalamic nucleus. Journal of Neuroscience 26, 2424-2433.
Aron A.R, Shohamy D, Clark J, Myers C, Gluck M.A, Poldrack R.A (2004) Human midbrain sensitivity to cognitive feedback and uncertainty during classification learning. Journal of Neurophysiology.
Aron A.R, Fletcher P.C, Bullmore E.T, Sahakian B.J, Robbins T.W (2003). Stop-signal inhibition disrupted by damage to right inferior frontal gyrus in humans. Nature Neuroscience 6(2):115-6.
Aron A.R, Watkins L, Sahakian B.J, Monsell S, Barker, R.A, Robbins T.W (2003). Task-Set Switching Deficits In Early-Stage Huntington's Disease: Implications For Basal Ganglia Function. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 15(5): 629-642.
Aron A.R, Dowson J, Sahakian B.J, Robbins T.W (2003). Methylphenidate improves response inhibition in adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Biological Psychiatry ; 54: 1465-1468.