Plastic frontal pole cortex structure related to individual persistence for goal achievement

Chihiro Hosoda,Masaru Tatekawa,Satoshi Tsujimoto,Takashi Hanakawa,Rieko Osu,Manabu Honda

doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0930-4

Abstract

Persistent goal-directed behaviours result in achievements in many fields. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of persistence and the methods that enhance the neuroplasticity underlying persistence, remain unclear. We here demonstrate that the structural properties of the frontal pole cortex (FPC) before tasks contain information that can classify Achievers and Non-achievers (goal-directed persistence) participating in three tasks that differ in time scale (hours to months) and task domains (cognitive, language, and motor learning). We also found that most Achievers exhibit experience-dependent neuroplastic changes in the FPC after completing language and motor learning tasks. Moreover, we confirmed that a coaching strategy that used subgoals modified goal-directed persistence and increased the likelihood of becoming an Achiever. Notably, we discovered that neuroplastic changes in the FPC were facilitated by the subgoal strategy, suggesting that goal-striving, using effective coaching, optimizes the FPC for goal persistence.

Highlights

Persistent goal-directed behaviours result in achievements in many fields
Since the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were obtained before participants completed the Tower of Hanoi (ToH) task, these findings suggest that individual differences in the left frontal pole cortex (FPC) structure may have a predictive value for judging whether a participant would complete the ToH task or not
Setting subgoals increased the number of Achievers and reduced the number of Non-achievers, and many predicted as Non-achievers (pNA) achieved the goal in the SG version of motor sequence learning (MoL)

Summary

Introduction

Persistent goal-directed behaviours result in achievements in many fields. the underlying neural mechanisms of persistence and the methods that enhance the neuroplasticity underlying persistence, remain unclear. One way to live a happy and satisfying life is to pursue things that an individual may consider to be of high value, such as the acquisition of fame or fortune, academic achievement, success in athletic competition, diet, and exercise. These goals are not readily or immediately attainable but instead are attained because of persistent efforts. Studies reveal that the failure rate in the achievement of long-term, goal-directed behaviors, such as dieting[2], smoking cessation[3], rehabilitation[4], and acquisition of a foreignlanguage[5], is ~50% This occurs despite the fact that people are aware of the importance of persistence for success. It would be beneficial to clarify the neural basis that underlies persistence/giving-up and to develop a method that enhances persistence by inducing neuroplasticity

Methods

Results

Conclusion