Comparison of local activation, functional connectivity, and structural connectivity in the N-back task

Autor: Takatoshi Satake, Ai Taki, Kazumi Kasahara, Daisuke Yoshimaru, Tomokazu Tsurugizawa
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Neuroscience, Vol 18 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1662-453X
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1337976
Popis: The N-back task is widely used to investigate working memory. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown that local brain activation depends on the difficulty of the N-back task. Recently, changes in functional connectivity and local activation during a task, such as a single-hand movement task, have been reported to give the distinct information. However, previous studies have not investigated functional connectivity changes in the entire brain during N-back tasks. In this study, we compared alterations in functional connectivity and local activation related to the difficulty of the N-back task. Because structural connectivity has been reported to be associated with local activation, we also investigated the relationship between structural connectivity and accuracy in a N-back task using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Changes in functional connectivity depend on the difficulty of the N-back task in a manner different from local activation, and the 2-back task is the best method for investigating working memory. This indicates that local activation and functional connectivity reflect different neuronal events during the N-back task. The top 10 structural connectivities associated with accuracy in the 2-back task were locally activated during the 2-back task. Therefore, structural connectivity as well as fMRI will be useful for predicting the accuracy of the 2-back task.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals