Grit Is Associated with Structure of Nucleus Accumbens and Gains in Cognitive Training
| Autor: | Elin Helander, Federico Nemmi, Torkel Klingberg, C. Nymberg |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Working memory
Cognitive Neuroscience 05 social sciences Nucleus accumbens 050105 experimental psychology Cognitive training Developmental psychology 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Neuroimaging Trait 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Grit Psychology 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Cognitive psychology |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 28:1688-1699 |
| ISSN: | 1530-8898 0898-929X |
| Popis: | There is a long-standing interest in the determinants of successful learning in children. “Grit” is an individual trait, reflecting the ability to pursue long-term goals despite temporary setbacks. Although grit is known to be predictive of future success in real-world learning situations, an understanding of the underlying neural basis and mechanisms is still lacking. Here we show that grit in a sample of 6-year-old children (n = 55) predicts the working memory improvement during 8 weeks of training on working memory tasks (p = .009). In a separate neuroimaging analysis performed on a partially overlapping sample (n = 27), we show that interindividual differences in grit were associated with differences in the volume of nucleus accumbens (peak voxel p = .021, x = 12, y = 11, z = −11). This was also confirmed in a leave-one-out analysis of gray matter density in the nucleus accumbens (p = .018). The results can be related to previous animal research showing the role of the nucleus accumbens to search out rewards regardless of delays or obstacles. The results provide a putative neural basis for grit and could contribute a cross-disciplinary connection of animal neuroscience to child psychology. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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