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Negative priming: a meta-analysis of fMRI studies
Zachary Yaple1,2, Marie Arsalidou3,4
1Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya Ulitsa, Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. zachyaple@gmail.com.
Experimental Brain Research
|August 20, 2017
Summary
Negative priming, a cognitive phenomenon, shows increased reaction times when stimuli repeat. This meta-analysis confirms its neural basis in the right middle frontal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus, adding the anterior cingulate cortex.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Negative priming is characterized by slower reaction times or decreased performance when a current target stimulus was a distractor in a prior trial.
- Previous qualitative reviews suggested involvement of the right middle frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus in negative priming.
- These proposed neural regions lacked validation through quantitative, coordinate-based meta-analyses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a quantitative neuroimaging meta-analysis to identify consistent neural correlates of the negative priming effect.
- To validate and expand upon regions of interest identified in previous qualitative reviews.
- To provide robust evidence for the neural mechanisms underlying negative priming.
Main Methods:
- A meta-analysis was performed on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies investigating the neural correlates of negative priming.
- Studies included participants performing perceptual, conceptual, and lexical priming tasks.
- Effect-size signed differential mapping (ES-SDM) was employed to analyze the neuroimaging data from fourteen selected studies.
Main Results:
- The meta-analysis confirmed neural activity in the right middle frontal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus, consistent with prior qualitative reviews.
- A novel finding revealed significant concordance of neural activity within the anterior cingulate cortex during negative priming.
- The results provide strong evidence for a distributed neural network supporting the negative priming effect.
Conclusions:
- The findings support existing hypotheses regarding the neural underpinnings of negative priming.
- This quantitative meta-analysis identifies the anterior cingulate cortex as a key region involved in negative priming, alongside previously suggested areas.
- The study offers enhanced insights into the complex neural mechanisms governing cognitive control and inhibitory processes in negative priming.
