Cognitive processes and cerebral cortical fundi: findings from positron-emission tomography studies

Positron-emission tomography (PET) studies of regional cerebral blood flow have provided evidence relevant to localization of cognitive functions. The critical loci identified in these studies are typically described in terms of macroanatomically labeled cortical and subcortical regions. We report the results of a meta-analysis of localization of changes in blood flow, based on nearly 1000 cerebral cortical peaks of activity obtained from groups of subjects in 30 PET studies. The results showed that, on average, 47% of these peaks were localized within the fundus regions of cortical sulci. This is an unexpectedly high proportion because fundal regions compose < 8% of the cortical mantle. Further analysis suggested a coarse correlation between the extent of fundal activation observed in different studies and the estimated cognitive complexity of the tasks used in the studies. These findings are potentially interesting because (i) the preponderance of fundal activation has implications for the interpretation of the PET data, (ii) they suggest that cortical sulcal and fundal regions may play a distinctive role in higher cognitive processing, or (iii) both of the above.