Developmental Specialization in the Right Intraparietal Sulcus for the Abstract Representation of Numerical Magnitude

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 2627-2637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian D. Holloway ◽  
Daniel Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Numerical Comparison ◽  
Large Network ◽  
Intraparietal Sulcus ◽  
Inferior Parietal Lobe ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Right

Because number is an abstract quality of a set, the way in which a number is externally represented does not change its quantitative meaning. In this study, we examined the development of the brain regions that support format-independent representation of numerical magnitude. We asked children and adults to perform both symbolic (Hindu-Arabic numerals) and nonsymbolic (arrays of squares) numerical comparison tasks as well as two control tasks while their brains were scanned using fMRI. In a preliminary analysis, we calculated the conjunction between symbolic and nonsymbolic numerical comparison. We then examined in which brain regions this conjunction differed between children and adults. This analysis revealed a large network of visual and parietal regions that showed greater activation in adults relative to children. In our primary analysis, we examined age-related differences in the conjunction of symbolic and nonsymbolic comparison after subtracting the control tasks. This analysis revealed a much more limited set of regions including the right inferior parietal lobe near the intraparietal sulcus. In addition to showing increased activation to both symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitudes over and above activation related to response selection, this region showed age-related differences in the distance effect. Our findings demonstrate that the format-independent representation of numerical magnitude in the right inferior parietal lobe is the product of developmental processes of cortical specialization and highlight the importance of using appropriate control tasks when conducting developmental neuroimaging studies.

Neural Underpinnings of Numerical and Spatial Cognition: An fMRI Meta-Analysis of Brain Regions Associated with Symbolic Number, Arithmetic, and Mental Rotation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Hawes ◽  
H Moriah Sokolowski ◽  
Chuka Bosah Ononye ◽  
Daniel Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Likelihood Estimation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Number Representation ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
The Right ◽  
Symbolic Number

Where and under what conditions do spatial and numerical skills converge and diverge in the brain? To address this question, we conducted a meta-analysis of brain regions associated with basic symbolic number processing, arithmetic, and mental rotation. We used Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) to construct quantitative meta-analytic maps synthesizing results from 86 neuroimaging papers (~ 30 studies/cognitive process). All three cognitive processes were found to activate bilateral parietal regions in and around the intraparietal sulcus (IPS); a finding consistent with shared processing accounts. Numerical and arithmetic processing were associated with overlap in the left angular gyrus, whereas mental rotation and arithmetic both showed activity in the middle frontal gyri. These patterns suggest regions of cortex potentially more specialized for symbolic number representation and domain-general mental manipulation, respectively. Additionally, arithmetic was associated with unique activity throughout the fronto-parietal network and mental rotation was associated with unique activity in the right superior parietal lobe. Overall, these results provide new insights into the intersection of numerical and spatial thought in the human brain.

scholarly journals Sense of Agency Beyond Sensorimotor Process: Decoding Self-Other Action Attribution in the Human Brain

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 4076-4091
Author(s):  
Ryu Ohata ◽  
Tomohisa Asai ◽  
Hiroshi Kadota ◽  
Hiroaki Shigemasu ◽  
Kenji Ogawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Sense Of Agency ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
Sensorimotor Information ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract The sense of agency is defined as the subjective experience that “I” am the one who is causing the action. Theoretical studies postulate that this subjective experience is developed through multistep processes extending from the sensorimotor to the cognitive level. However, it remains unclear how the brain processes such different levels of information and constitutes the neural substrates for the sense of agency. To answer this question, we combined two strategies: an experimental paradigm, in which self-agency gradually evolves according to sensorimotor experience, and a multivoxel pattern analysis. The combined strategies revealed that the sensorimotor, posterior parietal, anterior insula, and higher visual cortices contained information on self-other attribution during movement. In addition, we investigated whether the found regions showed a preference for self-other attribution or for sensorimotor information. As a result, the right supramarginal gyrus, a portion of the inferior parietal lobe (IPL), was found to be the most sensitive to self-other attribution among the found regions, while the bilateral precentral gyri and left IPL dominantly reflected sensorimotor information. Our results demonstrate that multiple brain regions are involved in the development of the sense of agency and that these show specific preferences for different levels of information.

scholarly journals “No Pain No Gain”: Evidence from a Parcel-Wise Brain Morphometry Study on the Volitional Quality of Elite Athletes

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaoxia Wei ◽  
Ruoguang Si ◽  
Youfa Li ◽  
Ying Yao ◽  
Lizhen Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
National Level ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Sense Of Agency ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Inferior Parietal Lobe ◽  
Brain Morphometry ◽  
Volitional Behavior

Volition is described as a psychological construct with great emphasis on the sense of agency. During volitional behavior, an individual always presents a volitional quality, an intrapersonal trait for dealing with adverse circumstances, which determines the individual’s persistence of action toward their intentions or goals. Elite athletes are a group of experts with superior volitional quality and, thereby, could be regarded as the natural subject pool to investigate this mental trait. The purpose of this study was to examine brain morphometric characteristics associated with volitional quality by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the Scale of Volitional Quality. We recruited 16 national-level athletes engaged in short track speed skating and 18 healthy controls matched with age and gender. A comparison of a parcel-wise brain anatomical characteristics of the healthy controls with those of the elite athletes revealed three regions with significantly increased cortical thickness in the athlete group. These regions included the left precuneus, the left inferior parietal lobe, and the right superior frontal lobe, which are the core brain regions involved in the sense of agency. The mean cortical thickness of the left inferior parietal lobe was significantly correlated with the independence of volitional quality (a mental trait that characterizes one’s intendency to control his/her own behavior and make decisions by applying internal standards and/or objective criteria). These findings suggest that sports training is an ideal model for better understanding the neural mechanisms of volitional behavior in the human brain.

Semantic and Perceptual Processing of Number Symbols: Evidence from a Cross-linguistic fMRI Adaptation Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian D. Holloway ◽  
Christian Battista ◽  
Stephan E. Vogel ◽  
Daniel Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Striking Difference ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Parietal Lobes ◽  
The Right ◽  
Fmri Adaptation ◽  
The Brain

The ability to process the numerical magnitude of sets of items has been characterized in many animal species. Neuroimaging data have associated this ability to represent nonsymbolic numerical magnitudes (e.g., arrays of dots) with activity in the bilateral parietal lobes. Yet the quantitative abilities of humans are not limited to processing the numerical magnitude of nonsymbolic sets. Humans have used this quantitative sense as the foundation for symbolic systems for the representation of numerical magnitude. Although numerical symbol use is widespread in human cultures, the brain regions involved in processing of numerical symbols are just beginning to be understood. Here, we investigated the brain regions underlying the semantic and perceptual processing of numerical symbols. Specifically, we used an fMRI adaptation paradigm to examine the neural response to Hindu-Arabic numerals and Chinese numerical ideographs in a group of Chinese readers who could read both symbol types and a control group who could read only the numerals. Across groups, the Hindu-Arabic numerals exhibited ratio-dependent modulation in the left IPS. In contrast, numerical ideographs were associated with activation in the right IPS, exclusively in the Chinese readers. Furthermore, processing of the visual similarity of both digits and ideographs was associated with activation of the left fusiform gyrus. Using culture as an independent variable, we provide clear evidence for differences in the brain regions associated with the semantic and perceptual processing of numerical symbols. Additionally, we reveal a striking difference in the laterality of parietal activation between the semantic processing of the two symbols types.

Damage to the right superior longitudinal fasciculus in the inferior parietal lobe plays a role in spatial neglect

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 2600-2603 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Shinoura ◽  
Y. Suzuki ◽  
R. Yamada ◽  
Y. Tabei ◽  
K. Saito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Spatial Neglect ◽  
Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus ◽  
Inferior Parietal Lobe ◽  
The Right

Priming of Color and Position during Visual Search in Unilateral Spatial Neglect

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 859-873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Árni Kristjánsson ◽  
Patrik Vuilleumier ◽  
Paresh Malhotra ◽  
Masud Husain ◽  
Jon Driver
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Spatial Neglect ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Unilateral Spatial Neglect ◽  
Inferior Parietal Lobe ◽  
Color Priming ◽  
The Right ◽  
Singleton Target

We examined priming of visual search by repeated target location or color in two patients with left visual neglect and extinction, following strokes centered on the right inferior parietal lobe. Both patients, like the healthy controls we tested, showed intact priming, with performance speeded when either the location or color of a singleton target was repeated over successive trials in a standard search condition (Experiment 1). This was observed both from and to targets on the contralesional (left) side. Moreover, priming of search was still observed even when a return of fixation back to display-center was required between successive trials (Experiment 2). When briefer displays were used (Experiment 3), the patients often failed to detect left targets. This situation revealed an important dissociation: Whereas location priming only arose from preceding left targets that had been consciously detected, color priming (possibly arising within the intact ventral stream) did not depend on awareness of the preceding target. There was considerable color priming from missed targets. These findings demonstrate relatively intact priming of visual search by color and location in patients with right parietal damage, and also reveal that location priming may differ from color priming in requiring awareness.

Right parietal cortex and calculation processing: intraoperative functional mapping of multiplication and addition in patients affected by a brain tumor

2013 ◽  
Vol 119 (5) ◽  
pp. 1107-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Della Puppa ◽  
Serena De Pellegrin ◽  
Elena d'Avella ◽  
Giorgio Gioffrè ◽  
Marina Munari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Tumor ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Tumor Resection ◽  
Functional Mapping ◽  
Awake Surgery ◽  
Intraparietal Sulcus ◽  
Functional Sites ◽  
Parietal Area ◽  
The Right

Object The role of parietal areas in number processing is well known. The significance of intraoperative functional mapping of these areas has been only partially explored, however, and only a few discordant data are available in the surgical literature with regard to the right parietal lobe. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical impact of simple calculation in cortical electrostimulation of right-handed patients affected by a right parietal brain tumor. Methods Calculation mapping in awake surgery was performed in 3 right-handed patients affected by high-grade gliomas located in the right parietal lobe. Preoperatively, none of the patients presented with calculation deficits. In all 3 cases, after sensorimotor and language mapping, cortical and intraparietal sulcus areas involved in single-digit multiplication and addition calculations were mapped using bipolar electrostimulation. Results In all patients, different sites of the right parietal cortex, mainly in the inferior lobule, were detected as being specifically related to calculation (multiplication or addition). In 2 patients the intraparietal sulcus was functionally specific for multiplication. No functional sites for language were detected. All sites functional for calculation were spared during tumor resection, which was complete in all cases without postoperative neurological deficits. Conclusions These findings provide intraoperative data in support of an anatomofunctional organization for multiplication and addition within the right parietal area. Furthermore, the study shows the potential clinical relevance of intraoperative mapping of calculation in patients undergoing surgery in the right parietal area. Further and larger studies are needed to confirm these data and assess whether mapped areas are effectively essential for function.

scholarly journals Cortical Regions Involved in the Generation of Musical Structures during Improvisation in Pianists

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 830-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara L. Bengtsson ◽  
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi ◽  
Fredrik Ullén
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Musical Creation

Studies on simple pseudorandom motor and cognitive tasks have shown that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and rostral premotor areas are involved in free response selection. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate whether these brain regions are also involved in free generation of responses in a more complex creative behavior: musical improvisation. Eleven professional pianists participated in the study. In one condition, Improvise, the pianist improvised on the basis of a visually displayed melody. In the control condition, Reproduce, the participant reproduced his previous improvisation from memory. Participants were able to reproduce their improvisations with a high level of accuracy, and the contrast Improvise versus Reproduce was thus essentially matched in terms of motor output and sensory feedback. However, the Improvise condition required storage in memory of the improvisation. We therefore also included a condition FreeImp, where the pianist improvised but was instructed not to memorize his performance. To locate brain regions involved in musical creation, we investigated the activations in the Improvise-Reproduce contrast that were also present in FreeImp contrasted with a baseline rest condition. Activated brain regions included the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the presupplementary motor area, the rostral portion of the dorsal premotor cortex, and the left posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus. We suggest that these regions are part of a network involved in musical creation, and discuss their possible functional roles.

scholarly journals Capturing Neuroplastic Changes after iTBS in Patients with Post-Stroke Aphasia: A Pilot fMRI Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1451
Author(s):  
Shuo Xu ◽  
Qing Yang ◽  
Mengye Chen ◽  
Panmo Deng ◽  
Ren Zhuang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Mri Scans ◽  
The Right

Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) is a high-efficiency transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) paradigm that has been applied to post-stroke aphasia (PSA). However, its efficacy mechanisms have not been clarified. This study aimed to explore the immediate effects of iTBS of the primary motor cortex (M1) of the affected hemisphere, on the functional activities and connectivity of the brains of PSA patients. A total of 16 patients with aphasia after stroke received iTBS with 800 pulses for 300 s. All patients underwent motor, language, and cognitive assessments and resting-state functional MRI scans immediately before and after the iTBS intervention. Regional, seed-based connectivity, and graph-based measures were used to test the immediate functional effects of the iTBS intervention, including the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF), degree centrality (DC), and functional connectivity (FC) of the left M1 area throughout the whole brain. The results showed that after one session of iTBS intervention, the fALFF, DC, and FC values changed significantly in the patients’ brains. Specifically, the DC values were significantly higher in the right middle frontal gyrus and parts of the left parietal lobe (p < 0.05), while fALFF values were significantly lower in the right medial frontal lobe and parts of the left intracalcarine cortex (p < 0.05), and the strength of the functional connectivity between the left M1 area and the left superior frontal gyrus was reduced (p < 0.05). Our findings provided preliminary evidences that the iTBS on the ipsilesional M1 could induce neural activity and functional connectivity changes in the motor, language, and other brain regions in patients with PSA, which may promote neuroplasticity and functional recovery.

Differential Contributions of the Intraparietal Sulcus and the Inferior Parietal Lobe to Attentional Blink: Evidence from Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Kihara ◽  
Takashi Ikeda ◽  
Daisuke Matsuyoshi ◽  
Nobuyuki Hirose ◽  
Tatsuya Mima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Intraparietal Sulcus ◽  
Attentional Set ◽  
Inferior Parietal Lobe ◽  
Task Goals ◽  
Disengagement Of Attention

When two targets (T1 and T2) are to be identified in rapid serial visual presentation, the response to T1 induces impairment of T2 report if T2 appears within 500 msec after T1 (attentional blink: AB). AB is thought to reflect temporal limitations of attention which affect target perception. Recent research suggests that the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) contributes to an attentional set associated with task goals, whereas the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) is associated with the disengagement and reorienting of attention to a relevant stimulus presented outside the current focus of attention. We investigated respective involvement of the IPS and the IPL in AB using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The results of Experiment 1 showed that the magnitude of AB deficit decreased TMS disrupted activity of the IPS after T1 onset. In addition, an increased AB deficit occurred when TMS was delivered over the IPS or IPL after T2 onset. In Experiment 2, where participants were instructed to ignore T1, they showed an AB-like T2 deficit only when TMS was delivered to the IPS after a T2 onset. Findings are discussed in terms of hypotheses about the respective roles of the IPS, in realizing an attentional set, and the IPL, in contributing to a disengagement of attention (from T1 to T2) during an AB period.

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