Functional connectivity in resting state as a phonemic fluency ability measure.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) shows potential for reflecting individual cognitive differences.
• Phonemic fluency, measured by the FAS test, is a key cognitive capability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between resting-state FC and phonemic fluency.
• To identify specific brain network connections associated with individual differences in verbal fluency.

Main Methods:

• Utilized seed regions from meta-analysis for verbal fluency tasks.
• Performed pairwise resting-state FC analysis in 93 undergraduates.
• Correlated FAS test scores with resting-state FC patterns.

Main Results:

• Higher FC between the thalamus and cerebellum correlated with better FAS test performance.
• Lower FC between the left inferior frontal gyrus and right insula was associated with improved phonemic fluency.
• Regression analysis indicated independent contributions of these FCs to phonemic fluency.

Conclusions:

• Resting-state FC measures, particularly between the thalamus-cerebellum and left IFG-right insula, are associated with individual differences in phonemic fluency.
• These findings support the Spontaneous Trait Reactivation hypothesis regarding resting-state FC and cognitive abilities.