Stable task representations under attentional load revealed with multivariate pattern analysis of human brain activity

Performing multiple tasks concurrently places a load on limited attentional resources and results in disrupted task performance. Although human neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural correlates of attentional load, how attentional load affects task processing is poorly understood. Here, task-related neural activity was investigated using fMRI with conventional univariate analysis and multivariate pattern analysis MVPA while participants performed blocks of prosaccades and antisaccades, either with or without a rapid serial visual presentation RSVP task. Performing prosaccades and antisaccades with RSVP increased error rates and RTs, decreased mean activation in frontoparietal brain areas associated with oculomotor control, and eliminated differences in activation between prosaccades and antisaccades. However, task identity could be decoded from spatial patterns of activation both in the absence and presence of an attentional load. Furthermore, in the FEFs and intraparietal sulcus, these spatial representations were found to be similar using cross-trial-type MVPA, which suggests stability under attentional load. These results demonstrate that attentional load may disrupt the strength of task-related neural activity, rather than the identity of task representations.