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Hemispheric specialization of the lateral prefrontal cortex for strategic processing during spatial and shape working
Dara S Manoach1, Nathan S White, Kristen A Lindgren
1Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. dara@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
Neuroimage
|March 10, 2004
Summary
Spatial working memory (WM) shows right prefrontal cortex (PFC) specialization, while shape WM engages the left PFC. This suggests hemispheric differences in processing spatial versus object information.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Human Brain Function
Background:
- Working memory (WM) is crucial for cognitive tasks.
- The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a key role in WM.
- Investigating functional specialization within the PFC is essential for understanding WM processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if spatial working memory (WM) is functionally specialized in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to shape WM.
- To minimize task-switching and manipulation demands in WM tasks.
- To use identical stimuli and motor responses for both spatial and shape WM tasks.
Main Methods:
- 12 subjects performed spatial and shape WM tasks, maintaining either location or shape information.
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used with a 3.0 T scanner.
- Data were analyzed using SPM99 to compare PFC activation between WM tasks and a control task.
Main Results:
- Spatial WM performance was faster and more accurate than shape WM.
- Spatial WM showed increased activation in the right ventrolateral and frontopolar PFC.
- Shape WM demonstrated increased activation in the left ventrolateral PFC.
Conclusions:
- Findings indicate hemispheric specialization for spatial versus shape WM in the ventrolateral PFC.
- Right PFC activation for spatial WM is not due to task difficulty, stimuli, or response demands.
- Differences in performance and activation suggest configural processing strategies for spatial WM.