Functional Neuroimaging of Prefrontal Cortex Activity During a Problem Solving Versus Motor Task in Children With and Without Autism

2018 ◽  
pp. 291-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Getchell ◽  
Ling-Yin Liang
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Motor Task

The Effects of Frontal Lobe Lesions on Goal Achievement in the Water Jug Task

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1129-1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Kathryn Colvin ◽  
Kevin Dunbar ◽  
Jordan Grafman
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Hill Climbing ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Frontal Lobe Lesion

Patients with prefrontal cortex lesions are impaired on a variety of planning and problem-solving tasks. We examined the problem-solving performance of 27 patients with focal frontal lobe damage on the Water Jug task. The Water Jug task has never been used to assess problem-solving ability in neurologically impaired patients nor in functional neuroimaging studies, despite sharing structural similarities with other tasks sensitive to prefrontal cortex function, including the Tower of Hanoi, Tower of London, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST). Our results demonstrate that the Water Jug task invokes a unique combination of problem-solving and planning strategies, allowing a more precise identification of frontal lobe lesion patients' cognitive deficits. All participants (patients and matched controls) appear to be utilizing a hill-climbing strategy that does not require sophisticated planning; however, frontal lobe lesion patients (FLLs) struggled to make required “counterintuitive moves” not predicted by this strategy and found within both solution paths. Left and bilateral FLLs were more impaired than right FLLs. Analysis of the left hemisphere brain regions encompassed by the lesions of these patients found that poor performance was linked to left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex damage. We propose that patients with left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lesions have difficulty making a decision requiring the conceptual comparison of nonverbal stimuli, manipulation of select representations of potential solutions, and are unable to appropriately inhibit a response in keeping with the final goal.

scholarly journals Modifications in Prefrontal Cortex Oxygenation in Linear and Curvilinear Dual Task Walking: A Combined fNIRS and IMUs Study

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6159
Author(s):  
Valeria Belluscio ◽  
Gabriele Casti ◽  
Marco Ferrari ◽  
Valentina Quaresima ◽  
Maria Sofia Sappia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Hemoglobin Concentration ◽  
Cortical Activation ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Gait Quality

Increased oxygenated hemoglobin concentration of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been observed during linear walking, particularly when there is a high attention demand on the task, like in dual-task (DT) paradigms. Despite the knowledge that cognitive and motor demands depend on the complexity of the motor task, most studies have only focused on usual walking, while little is known for more challenging tasks, such as curved paths. To explore the relationship between cortical activation and gait biomechanics, 20 healthy young adults were asked to perform linear and curvilinear walking trajectories in single-task and DT conditions. PFC activation was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, while gait quality with four inertial measurement units. The Figure-of-8-Walk-Test was adopted as the curvilinear trajectory, with the “Serial 7s” test as concurrent cognitive task. Results show that walking along curvilinear trajectories in DT led to increased PFC activation and decreased motor performance. Under DT walking, the neural correlates of executive function and gait control tend to be modified in response to the cognitive resources imposed by the motor task. Being more representative of real-life situations, this approach to curved walking has the potential to reveal crucial information and to improve people’ s balance, safety, and life’s quality.

scholarly journals Neural arbitration between social and individual learning systems

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreea Oliviana Diaconescu ◽  
Madeline Stecy ◽  
Lars Kasper ◽  
Christopher J Burke ◽  
Zoltan Nagy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Individual Learning ◽  
Learning Systems ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Relative Precision ◽  
Decision Confidence ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

Decision making requires integrating knowledge gathered from personal experiences with advice from others. The neural underpinnings of the process of arbitrating between information sources has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we formalized arbitration as the relative precision of predictions, afforded by each learning system, using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. In a probabilistic learning task, participants predicted the outcome of a lottery using recommendations from a more informed advisor and/or self-sampled outcomes. Decision confidence, as measured by the number of points participants wagered on their predictions, varied with our definition of arbitration as a ratio of precisions. Functional neuroimaging demonstrated that arbitration signals were independent of decision confidence and involved modality-specific brain regions. Arbitrating in favor of self-gathered information activated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the midbrain, whereas arbitrating in favor of social information engaged the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. These findings indicate that relative precision captures arbitration between social and individual learning systems at both behavioral and neural levels.

Two Teaching Styles, Problem Solving, and Guided Discovery in Motor Performance and Learning

1979 ◽  
Vol 48 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1243-1248
Author(s):  
S. E. Moxley ◽  
F. P. Covey
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Teaching Styles ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Guided Discovery ◽  
Practice Condition ◽  
Practice Trials ◽  
Slight Advantage

Three groups of 25 matched subjects (aged 10 to 12 yr.) took part in this study. In the practice condition one group performed the solution of the Tinkertoy Motorcycle Model in a problem-solving manner, while the other two groups performed in a guided manner. One guided group performed the same number of trials as the problem-solving group, while the other group had the same total time performing each trial as the problem-solving group. Their relative effectiveness was compared on the six initial practice trials and on six trials after a period of no practice. The problem-solving group received no direct assistance. The guided groups saw two demonstrations of the assembling procedure along with verbal feedback as to the selection and placement of pieces on the figure. The guided groups performed the task significantly faster than the problem-solving group on all practice trials. When measured for retention there were no significant differences among groups. The two guided groups however did maintain a slight advantage over the problem-solving group. It was concluded the practice of the perceptual motor task was facilitated by a guided discovery, while retention was not significantly different. The results are discussed in relation to learning strategies and type of task.

Transient Disruption of Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex During Verbal Encoding Affects Subsequent Memory Performance

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 688-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itamar Kahn ◽  
Alvaro Pascual-Leone ◽  
Hugo Theoret ◽  
Felipe Fregni ◽  
Dav Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Single Pulse ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Episodic Encoding ◽  
Functional Shift

Episodic memory supports conscious remembrance of everyday experience. Prior functional neuroimaging data indicate that episodic encoding during phonological task performance is correlated with activation in bilateral posterior ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (pVLPFC), although uncertainty remains regarding whether these prefrontal regions make necessary contributions to episodic memory formation. Using functional MRI data to guide application of single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS), this study examined the necessity of left and right pVLPFC for episodic encoding (as expressed through subsequent memory performance). To assess the timing of critical computations, pVLPFC function was transiently disrupted at different poststimulus onset times while subjects made syllable decisions about visually presented familiar and unfamiliar words; subsequent memory for these stimuli was measured. Results revealed that left pVLPFC disruption during encoding of familiar words impaired subsequent memory, expressed as a decline in recognition confidence, with disruption being maximal at 380 ms after stimulus onset. In contrast, right pVLPFC disruption facilitated subsequent memory for familiar words, expressed as an increase in medium confidence recognition, with this facilitation being maximal at 380 ms. Finally, phonological (syllable) decision accuracy was facilitated by right pVLPFC disruption, with this effect being maximal at 340 ms, but was unaffected by left pVLPFC disruption. These findings suggest that left pVLPFC mechanisms onset between 300 and 400 ms during phonological processing of words, with these mechanisms appearing necessary for effective episodic encoding. In contrast, disruption of correlated mechanisms in right pVLPFC facilitates encoding, perhaps by inducing a functional shift in the mechanisms engaged during learning.

scholarly journals Inefficiency in Self-organized Attentional Switching in the Normal Aging Population is Associated with Decreased Activity in the Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1670-1686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Hampshire ◽  
Aleksandra Gruszka ◽  
Sean J. Fallon ◽  
Adrian M. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Effects Of Aging

Studies of the aging brain have demonstrated that areas of the frontal cortex, along with their associated top-down executive control processes, are particularly prone to the neurodegenerative effects of age. Here, we investigate the effects of aging on brain and behavior using a novel task, which allows us to examine separate components of an individual's chosen strategy during routine problem solving. Our findings reveal that, contrary to previous suggestions of a specific decrease in cognitive flexibility, older participants show no increased level of perseveration to either the recently rewarded object or the recently relevant object category. In line with this lack of perseveration, lateral and medial regions of the orbito-frontal cortex, which are associated with inhibitory control and reward processing, appear to be functionally intact. Instead, a general loss of efficient problem-solving strategy is apparent with a concomitant decrease in neural activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the posterior parietal cortex. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is also affected during problem solving, but age-related decline within this region appears to occur at a later stage.

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