Abstract
BackgroundThe anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) exhibits activation during some cognitive tasks, including episodic memory, reasoning, attention, multitasking, task sets, decision making, mentalizing, and processing of self-referenced information. However, the medial part of anterior PFC is part of the default mode network (DMN), which shows deactivation during various goal-directed cognitive tasks compared to a resting baseline. One possible factor for this pattern is that activity in the anterior medial PFC (MPFC) is affected by dynamic allocation of attentional resources depending on task demands. We investigated this possibility using an event related fMRI with a face working memory task.Methodology/Principal FindingsSixteen students participated in a single fMRI session. They were asked to form a task set to remember the faces (Face memory condition) or to ignore them (No face memory condition), then they were given 6 seconds of preparation period before the onset of the face stimuli. During this 6-second period, four single digits were presented one at a time at the center of the display, and participants were asked to add them and to remember the final answer. When participants formed a task set to remember faces, the anterior MPFC exhibited activation during a task preparation period but deactivation during a task execution period within a single trial.Conclusions/SignificanceThe results suggest that the anterior MPFC plays a role in task set formation but is not involved in execution of the face working memory task. Therefore, when attentional resources are allocated to other brain regions during task execution, the anterior MPFC shows deactivation. The results suggest that activation and deactivation in the anterior MPFC are affected by dynamic allocation of processing resources across different phases of processing.
Highlights
IntroductionThe anterior PFC (BA 10, called frontal pole, frontpolar cortex, and rostral prefrontal cortex) exhibits activation in various higher-level cognitive tasks, including episodic memory retrieval [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], prospective memory [9,10,11], working memory [12], attention [13,14,15,16], reasoning [17,18], multitasking [19,20,21,22,23], rule learning [24,25,26,27], internally generated information [28,29], monitoring of external environment [30], formation and management of task sets and rules [31,32,33,34,35], decision making [36,37], and processing of self-referenced information [38,39].There might be some functional subdivisions within the BA10 [40,41,42]
Gilbert et al [42] reported that functions such as episodic memory are more related to the lateral BA10, whereas mentalizing is associated with the medial BA10, even though some functions such as attention and multitasking are related to both the lateral and medial BA10
These findings suggest that the level of activity in the anterior medial PFC (MPFC) may depend on allocation of attentional resources among brain regions as a function of task demands
Summary
The anterior PFC (BA 10, called frontal pole, frontpolar cortex, and rostral prefrontal cortex) exhibits activation in various higher-level cognitive tasks, including episodic memory retrieval [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], prospective memory [9,10,11], working memory [12], attention [13,14,15,16], reasoning [17,18], multitasking [19,20,21,22,23], rule learning [24,25,26,27], internally generated information [28,29], monitoring of external environment [30], formation and management of task sets and rules [31,32,33,34,35], decision making [36,37], and processing of self-referenced information [38,39].There might be some functional subdivisions within the BA10 [40,41,42]. The DMN tends to reduce activation when attention is focused on a particular task, whereas the DMN tends to increase activation when attention is rather relaxed When combined together, these findings suggest that the level of activity in the anterior MPFC may depend on allocation of attentional resources among brain regions as a function of task demands. The anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) exhibits activation during some cognitive tasks, including episodic memory, reasoning, attention, multitasking, task sets, decision making, mentalizing, and processing of self-referenced information. One possible factor for this pattern is that activity in the anterior medial PFC (MPFC) is affected by dynamic allocation of attentional resources depending on task demands We investigated this possibility using an event related fMRI with a face working memory task
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