The contribution of functional brain imaging to the understanding of cognitive processes underlying task switching

More than two decades ago cognitive neuroscientists started to use brain imaging techniques to investigate the neurocognitive bases of task switching. But has this research contributed to our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying cognitive flexibility? In the present chapter, we will give an overview of brain imaging research on task switching using fMRI. Furthermore, we will address the question to what extent this research has contributed to our understanding of the cognitive processes involved in task switching. We will argue that brain imaging has provided a unique contribution to the cognitive literature in at least three different ways. First, brain imaging findings helped to decompose component processes related to task switching. Second, brain imaging helped to support the idea that common processes underly task switching paradigms in different domains. Finally, it helped to show that some manipulations that were believed to tap into the same processes, in fact reflected different cognitive operations.