Related Experiment Videos
Prefrontal cortex activation during obstacle negotiation: What's the effect size and timing?
Inbal Maidan1, Shiran Shustak2, Topaz Sharon3
1Center for the Study of Movement, Cognition, and Mobility, Neurological Institute, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; Laboratory of Early Markers of Neurodegeneration, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; Department of Neurology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Brain and Cognition
|February 19, 2018
Summary
The brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Human movement science
Background:
- Obstacle negotiation integrates sensorimotor and cognitive functions.
- The prefrontal cortex plays a key role in obstacle negotiation.
- Understanding prefrontal cortex activation during obstacle negotiation is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of obstacle height and response time on prefrontal cortex activation.
- To explore how the brain adapts to different obstacle negotiation challenges.
Main Methods:
- Twenty healthy adults performed obstacle negotiation tasks with varying obstacle heights (50mm and 100mm) and predictability (anticipated vs. unanticipated).
- Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measured prefrontal activation (HbO2 levels and slope).
- Kinect cameras tracked movement strategies, analyzing foot placement relative to obstacles.
Main Results:
- Obstacle height did not significantly alter prefrontal activation patterns.
- Unanticipated obstacles elicited a steeper prefrontal activation slope compared to anticipated ones.
- This steeper activation during unanticipated obstacles correlated with increased leading foot clearance post-obstacle.
Conclusions:
- Prefrontal cortex activation patterns adapt based on obstacle predictability.
- The brain exhibits faster and greater prefrontal cortex recruitment for unanticipated obstacles.
- This highlights the prefrontal cortex's role in adaptive motor control during dynamic environments.