A specific brain structural basis for individual differences in reality monitoring.
A specific brain structural basis for individual differences in reality monitoring.
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DOI：
10.1523/jneurosci.3595-11.2011
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发表时间：
2011-10-05
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Simons JS
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文献类型：
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作者：
Buda M;Fornito A;Bergström ZM;Simons JS
最近的兴趣集中在理解脑结构变异性和认知的个体差异之间的关系，但在确定这种个体差异的特定神经解剖学基础方面几乎没有进展。在健康人群中表现出相当大的变异性的一种认知能力是现实监控，即一个内向者判断记忆是来自内部还是外部来源的认知过程（例如，无论事件是想象的还是实际发生的）。神经影像学研究表明，内侧前额叶皮层（PFC）在现实监测中起作用，在这里，我们试图确定特定的前内侧前额叶皮层脑结构（副扣带回沟（PCS））的形态变异性是否可能是表现的基础。根据MRI扫描结果选择53名健康志愿者，并根据其左半球或右半球是否存在PCS分为四组。与其他参与者相比，两个半球都没有PCS的那组人的现实监测表现显著降低，并且对他们的表现进行元认知内省的能力也显著降低。与脑沟缺失可能意味着周围额回体积更大的预测一致，基于体素的形态测量显示前PFC灰质和现实监测性能之间存在显着的负相关性。研究结果提供的证据表明，在内省能力，如现实监测的个体差异可能与特定的结构变异的PFC。
Much recent interest has centered on understanding the relationship between brain structure variability and individual differences in cognition, but there has been little progress in identifying specific neuroanatomical bases of such individual differences. One cognitive ability that exhibits considerable variability in the healthy population is reality monitoring, the cognitive processes whereby one introspectively judges whether a memory came from an internal or external source (e.g., whether an event was imagined or actually occurred). Neuroimaging research has implicated the medial anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) in reality monitoring, and here we sought to determine whether morphological variability in a specific anteromedial PFC brain structure, the paracingulate sulcus (PCS), might underlie performance. Fifty-three healthy volunteers were selected on the basis of MRI scans and classified into four groups according to presence or absence of the PCS in their left or right hemisphere. The group with absence of the PCS in both hemispheres showed significantly reduced reality monitoring performance, and ability to introspect metacognitively about their performance, compared with the other participants. Consistent with the prediction that sulcal absence might mean greater volume in the surrounding frontal gyri, voxel-based morphometry revealed a significant negative correlation between anterior PFC gray matter and reality monitoring performance. The findings provide evidence that individual differences in introspective abilities like reality monitoring may be associated with specific structural variability in the PFC.