|
Functional and structural networks in attention and recognition| old_uid | 9734 |
|---|
| title | Functional and structural networks in attention and recognition |
|---|
| start_date | 2011/03/02 |
|---|
| schedule | 14h |
|---|
| online | no |
|---|
| summary | How are brain regions wired together to perform different cognitive functions? To address this question, we combined functional and diffusion imaging to investigate functional and structural networks that process novel objects defined by shape, motion and colour. Participants attended to shape, motion, colour, or all features simultaneously. We found that attention to shape or motion functionally activated occipito-temporal, frontal, and parietal regions. By comparison, attention to colour activated inferior occipital and medial brain regions. Interestingly, attention to all features activated shape-selective regions in occipital lobe. We then used the diffusion data to reconstruct white matter tracts connecting functionally-defined regions. Importantly, we found that higher integrity of the reconstructed tracts between occipito-temporal and frontal regions was associated with faster recognition times when participants attended to shape, motion or all object features, but not when they attended to colour. These results suggest that there is a common network that processes shape and motion, and a separate network that processes colour. In a follow-up functional imaging study, we found that activity in regions of the colour network can modulate activity in regions of the shape/motion network. We conclude that the brain has distinct functional and structural networks for processing specific object features. However, these networks may functionally interact with each other. The correlation between tract integrity and behaviour also has implications for clinical work: Damage to tracts that are important for object recognition may help explain recognition deficits such as visual form agnosia or prosopagnosia. |
|---|
| responsibles | Brysbaert |
|---|
| |
|