The Specific Brain Activity of Dual Task Coordination: a Theoretical Conflict-Control Model Based on a Qualitative and Quantitative Review

Concurrently coordinating two tasks at a time is a prerequisite or an essential competency for some occupations. However, evidence are mixed regarding the specific brain activity of dual task coordination. To this end, the present work systematically reviewed the evidence from the functional neuroimaging studies about dual-task-related brain activations by meta-analysis and narrative syntheses. 59 studies related to the brain activity of dual tasking among the healthy adult population were included in the systematic review, 24 studies among which employed three suitable analysis approaches were further included into the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis employing seed-based effect size mapping method found that the specific dual-task-related brain activations were in the medial part of superior frontal gyrus/middle cingulate cortex, right precuneus, and right inferior gyrus (familywise error (FWE)-corrected p < .01). The systematic qualitative and quantitative review suggested that dual task coordination might be specifically associated with the conflict-control brain circuit.