The role of the human ventral premotor cortex in counting successive stimuli
The role of the human ventral premotor cortex in counting successive stimuli
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DOI：
10.1007/s00221-006-0736-8
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发表时间：
2007-04-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Hallett, Mark
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kansaku, Kenji;Carver, Benjamin;Hallett, Mark
成年人有能力对大量连续的刺激进行精确计数。什么样的大脑区域是这一独特的人类过程的基础？为了确定候选脑区，我们首先使用功能性磁共振成像，发现左侧腹侧前运动皮层的上部在连续感觉刺激呈现10-22次时优先激活，而该区域在小数字计数到4时没有激活。然后，我们使用经颅磁刺激来评估该区域的必要性，并发现该区域的刺激优先破坏受试者的确切大数计数。刺激该区域既不影响受试者的数字词知觉，也不影响他们执行非数字顺序字母任务的能力。虽然进一步的调查是必要的，以确定左腹侧前运动皮层的确切作用，结果表明，该地区是不可或缺的参与了大量的连续刺激计数，至少在本研究中的任务类型。
Adult humans have the ability to count large numbers of successive stimuli exactly. What brain areas underlie this uniquely human process? To identify the candidate brain areas, we first used functional magnetic resonance imaging, and found that the upper part of the left ventral premotor cortex was preferentially activated during counting of successive sensory stimuli presented 10-22 times, while the area was not activated during small number counting up to 4. We then used transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess the necessity of this area, and found that stimulation of this area preferentially disrupted subjects' exact large number enumeration. Stimulation to the area affected neither subjects' number word perception nor their ability to perform a non-numerical sequential letter task. While further investigation is necessary to determine the precise role of the left ventral premotor cortex, the results suggest that the area is indispensably involved for large number counting of successive stimuli, at least for the types of tasks in this study.