Abstract
Cognitive performance relies on the coordination of large-scale networks of brain regions that are not only temporally correlated during different tasks, but also networks that show highly correlated spontaneous activity during a task-free state. Both task-related and task-free network activity has been associated with individual differences in cognitive performance. Therefore, we aimed to examine the influence of cognitive expertise on four networks associated with cognitive task performance: the default mode network (DMN) and three other cognitive networks (central-executive network, dorsal attention network, and salience network). During fMRI scanning, fifteen grandmaster and master level Chinese chess players (GM/M) and fifteen novice players carried out a Chinese chess task and a task-free resting state. Modulations of network activity during task were assessed, as well as resting-state functional connectivity of those networks. Relative to novices, GM/Ms showed a broader task-induced deactivation of DMN in the chess problem-solving task, and intrinsic functional connectivity of DMN was increased with a connectivity pattern associated with the caudate nucleus in GM/Ms. The three other cognitive networks did not exhibit any difference in task-evoked activation or intrinsic functional connectivity between the two groups. These findings demonstrate the effect of long-term learning and practice in cognitive expertise on large-scale brain networks, suggesting the important role of DMN deactivation in expert performance and enhanced functional integration of spontaneous activity within widely distributed DMN-caudate circuitry, which might better support high-level cognitive control of behavior.
Highlights
The board game Chess involves many aspects of high level cognition and requires sophisticated problem solving skills [1,2], and it is considered one of the most mentally taxing of pursuits [3]
Behavioral Results As expected, grandmaster and master level Chinese chess players (GM/M) performed significantly better than novice players (t = 9.12, p,1028) in the game condition of the Chinese chess problem-solving task, successfully come up with a solution in 7.8 boards (SD = 1.21), while novices successfully worked out 2.27 boards (SD = 2.02)
These regions are all consistent with the pattern of cognitive networks, and we extend this finding to characterize network-specific responses in the centralexecutive network (CEN), dorsal attention network (DAN) and salience network (SN), which were known as canonical subnetworks of the cognitive network
Summary
The board game Chess involves many aspects of high level cognition and requires sophisticated problem solving skills [1,2], and it is considered one of the most mentally taxing of pursuits [3]. Many kinds of cognitive processes are involved, e.g. attention, visuo-spatial perception, motivation, working memory, and decision making [4,5,6,7]. A centralexecutive network (CEN), which includes the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC), is critical for working memory, attentional control, and judgment and decision making in the context of goal-directed behavior [8,11,12]; a dorsal attention network (DAN), which includes the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the junction of the precentral and superior frontal sulcus (frontal eye field, FEF), plays a key role in top-down orienting of attention, visuo-spatial perception, and goal-directed stimulus response selection and action [10,13]; and lastly, a salience network (SN), anchored by dorsal ACC and the fronto-insular cortex (FIC), is responsible for salience processing and decision making [14,15]. During performance of cognitively demanding tasks, activation in these brain networks typically increases, while another network, the default mode network (DMN), has been consistently shown to decrease activation. Successful performance of attention-demanding cognitive tasks is always associated with enhanced deactivation of DMN [26,27]
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