Abstract
The huge and complex socio-technical system that supports our daily lives sometimes requires operators to respond to unexpected events not described in the procedure manual. To elucidate the neural basis of this ability, 18 university students were trained to operate the simulator of such a system, and brain activity during the response to unexpected events was measured using functional MRI. We examined the relationship between the brain activity and two indices of the ability: the task performance and problem-solving-oriented personal trait. Brain activation during the response to unexpected event in contrast to that to expected event was associated with low task performance in the bilateral putamen, hippocampus, and the left inferior frontal gyrus, potentially reflecting a tendency to depend on procedure manuals. The activation was associated with low scores in the problem-solving-oriented personal trait in the motor-related areas, suggesting its relevance to the rigidity and inefficiency of the response strategy. Brain activation during the response to unexpected event relative to the baseline activity was associated with low task performance in the left inferior parietal lobule, likely reflecting the difficulty of the task for the participants. Over all, the findings represent the different aspects of inappropriate or inefficient responses to unexpected events. The elucidation of the neural basis of high response ability may require the development of new cognitive models or analytical approaches.
