Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain
Abstract The human brain is heralded for its massive parallel processing capacity, yet influential cognitive models suggest that there is a central bottleneck of information processing distinct from perceptual and motor stages that limits our ability to carry out two cognitively demanding tasks at o...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58228-0 |
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| _version_ | 1849392255485345792 |
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| author | Qiuhai Yue Allen T. Newton René Marois |
| author_facet | Qiuhai Yue Allen T. Newton René Marois |
| author_sort | Qiuhai Yue |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The human brain is heralded for its massive parallel processing capacity, yet influential cognitive models suggest that there is a central bottleneck of information processing distinct from perceptual and motor stages that limits our ability to carry out two cognitively demanding tasks at once, resulting in the serial queuing of task information processing. Here we used ultrafast (199 ms TR), high-field (7T) fMRI with multivariate analyses to distinguish brain activity between two arbitrary sensorimotor response selection tasks when the tasks were temporally overlapping. We observed serial processing of task-specific activity in the fronto-parietal multiple-demand (MD) network, while processing in earlier sensory stages unfolded largely in parallel. Moreover, the MD network combined with modality-specific motor areas to define the functional characteristic of the central bottleneck at the stage of response selection. These results provide direct neural evidence for serial queuing of information processing and pinpoint the neural substrates undergirding the central bottleneck. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-961794bce59f43bbbabcc09f8c29c1cc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-961794bce59f43bbbabcc09f8c29c1cc2025-08-20T03:40:48ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116112110.1038/s41467-025-58228-0Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brainQiuhai Yue0Allen T. Newton1René Marois2School of Psychology, Shenzhen UniversityVanderbilt University Medical CenterDepartment of Psychology, Vanderbilt UniversityAbstract The human brain is heralded for its massive parallel processing capacity, yet influential cognitive models suggest that there is a central bottleneck of information processing distinct from perceptual and motor stages that limits our ability to carry out two cognitively demanding tasks at once, resulting in the serial queuing of task information processing. Here we used ultrafast (199 ms TR), high-field (7T) fMRI with multivariate analyses to distinguish brain activity between two arbitrary sensorimotor response selection tasks when the tasks were temporally overlapping. We observed serial processing of task-specific activity in the fronto-parietal multiple-demand (MD) network, while processing in earlier sensory stages unfolded largely in parallel. Moreover, the MD network combined with modality-specific motor areas to define the functional characteristic of the central bottleneck at the stage of response selection. These results provide direct neural evidence for serial queuing of information processing and pinpoint the neural substrates undergirding the central bottleneck.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58228-0 |
| spellingShingle | Qiuhai Yue Allen T. Newton René Marois Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain Nature Communications |
| title | Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain |
| title_full | Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain |
| title_fullStr | Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain |
| title_short | Ultrafast fMRI reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain |
| title_sort | ultrafast fmri reveals serial queuing of information processing during multitasking in the human brain |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58228-0 |
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