Changes in effective connectivity during the visual-motor integration tasks: a preliminary f-NIRS study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• Visual-motor integration (VMI) is crucial for daily activities.
• Understanding the neural mechanisms of VMI is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate effective connectivity (EC) changes in brain regions during VMI tasks of varying difficulty using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
• To explore the relationship between brain network activity and behavioral performance in VMI.

Main Methods:

• 17 healthy participants completed VMI tasks, attention tests (CPT), executive function assessments (BRIEF-A), and VMI tests (Beery VMI).
• Granger causality analysis was used to determine EC, followed by ANOVA and partial correlation analyses to link brain activity with behavior.

Main Results:

• Higher EC was observed in the dorsal attention network (DAN) and its connections (DAN→DMN, VAN, FPN, SMN) during complex VMI tasks.
• Specific regions like the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) and right middle occipital gyrus (MOG) showed increased EC.
• EC values positively correlated with executive function, VMI performance, and attention performance.

Conclusions:

• The DAN is critically involved in VMI, with right SPL and right MOG contributing to load-dependent EC changes.
• Bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and right postcentral gyrus (PCG) are also associated with VMI performance.