Fig. 1: Principles of the BRAC-framework.

a Characteristics of commonly used experimental tasks to examine action control. Most tasks reveal a sequential structure (a trial n-1 to trial n structure), i.e., two consecutive displays are presented – the prime display followed by the probe display. Behavioral performance as well as neurophysiological processes underlying action control are typically examined at the probe. Crucially, BRAC states that binding/integration takes place at the prime and that upon feature repetition at the probe retrieval reinstates the prime-event file. b Schematical illustration of the BRAC framework delineating how event-files are managed. The event-file is at the core of the framework, which assumes two central processes: (i) the binding of stimulus (S), response (R) and effect features (E) into the event-file. (ii) a retrieval process of a previously bound event-file whenever one of the S, R or E features is re-encountered. This reflects the retrieval of an episodic memory trace. Importantly, binding and retrieval processes work independently from each other and are both subject to top-down or bottom-up modulatory effects.