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Functional specialization of the left ventral parietal cortex in working memory.
Jennifer Langel1, Jonathan Hakun2, David C Zhu3
1Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University East Lansing, MI, USA.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|July 5, 2014
Summary
The ventral parietal cortex (VPC) shows distinct functions. Anterior VPC is active bilaterally for attention and memory retrieval, while posterior regions lateralize for verbal working memory (left) and attention (right).
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Brain Imaging
Background:
- The function of the ventral parietal cortex (VPC) is debated, with theories suggesting lateralization for verbal working memory (left hemisphere) and attention (right hemisphere).
- However, observed bilateral VPC activity in attentional tasks challenges strict lateralization models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional organization of the VPC by examining bilateral activity patterns during distinct cognitive tasks.
- To differentiate between roles in working memory and attention within the VPC.
Main Methods:
- Utilized neuroimaging to assess VPC activity during an oddball attentional task and a working memory task.
- Compared bilateral VPC activation patterns across these two tasks with varying cognitive demands.
Main Results:
- Bilateral anterior VPC regions were active during novel target detection (oddball task) and working memory retrieval.
- Posterior VPC showed lateralized functions: left hemisphere for working memory encoding/retrieval, right hemisphere for attention.
- Right posterior VPC activity was observed during the oddball task, while the left was not.
Conclusions:
- Anterior VPC, bilaterally, supports non-mnemonic processes like attention and target detection.
- Posterior VPC exhibits lateralized roles, with the left hemisphere involved in speech-related working memory and the right in attention.
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