The Rule Learning In Rapid Instructed Task Learning:An FMRI Study

The ability to rapidly reconfigure our minds to perform novel tasks is important for adapting to an ever-changing world.Rapid instructed task learning as a form of learning is faster and more efficient,according to the exact instructions,we can learn the novel tasks rapidly,it's not only illustrates the flexibility of cognitive control,but also useful in daily life and study.Although RITL made the outstanding contributions in human cognition,but the process of RITL in the brain,is still not very clear.Based on PRO cognitive paradigm,we use the semantic rule instructions,developing a complex rule learning task.With two experiments to explore that if the rapid instructed task learning can be realized in complex tasks and find out the neural mechanisms in RITL.40 subjects participated in the experiment 1,we hypothesized and confirmed that in the same experiment instruction and practice,there was no significant difference between the repetitive task and the novel task.It is suggested that participants can according to the rules of semantic cues,and use the rapid instructed task learning to learn quickly and accurately when they perform the novel task.Experiment 2 collected the fMRI brain imaging of 40 subjects,we found a significant activity in the visual cortex,parietal cortex,basal ganglia,and the prefrontal cortex involved in Rapid instructed task learning.In the coding phase,there are more activation of the anterior prefrontal cortex in novel tasks than repetitive tasks.In the response phase,the dorsolateral prefrontal displays more activation in novel task than repetitive task.These findings suggest that in the rapid instructed task learning,the anterior prefrontal cortex drive the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation to complete the experiment tasks.