Brain Mapping in Verbal and Spatial Thinking

The aim of the present work was to describe the topography of active cortical zones and subcortical formations during verbal and spatial thought using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A total of 18 right-handed subjects took part. Four types of task were presented – two study tasks, ver...

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Veröffentlicht in:Neuroscience and behavioral physiology 2015-02, Vol.45 (2), p.146-153
Hauptverfasser: Ivanitskii, A. M., Portnova, G. V., Martynova, O. V., Maiorova, L. A., Fedina, O. N., Petrushevskii, A. G.
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The aim of the present work was to describe the topography of active cortical zones and subcortical formations during verbal and spatial thought using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A total of 18 right-handed subjects took part. Four types of task were presented – two study tasks, verbal (anagrams) and spatial (seeking figures to complement a square), as well as two types of control task (words and spatial tasks where all the figures are identical). Solution of verbal tasks was associated with a greater volume of activation of the left hemisphere, with involvement of Broca's area, while solution of spatial tasks was linked with activation of the middle frontal gyrus on the right. In the occipital area, solution of spatial tasks was associated with greater activation of visual field 18, while solution of anagrams was linked with greater activation of field 19, which is associated with a higher level of visual information processing. The cerebellum was activated in both tasks, to a greater extent on solution of spatial tasks. These fMRI data provide evidence that the verbal and spatial types of thought are supported by the activity of a narrowly specific set of brain structures, while previous electrophysiological studies indicated distributed cerebral processes during thought. Combining these two approaches leads to the conclusion that cognitive functions are supported by systems-type cerebral processes with certain key structures.
ISSN:0097-0549
1573-899X
DOI:10.1007/s11055-015-0052-5