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Article
Developmental Shifts in fMRI Activations During Visuospatial Relational Reasoning
Brain and Cognition (2009)
  • Paul J. Eslinger, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Clancy Blair, The Pennsylvania State University
  • JianLi Wang, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Bryn Lipovsky, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Jennifer Realmuto, The Pennsylvania State University
  • David Baker, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Steven L. Thorne, Portland State University
  • David Gameson, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Erin Zimmerman, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Lisa Rohrer, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Qing X. Yang, The Pennsylvania State University
Abstract
To investigate maturational plasticity of fluid cognition systems, functional brain imaging was undertaken in healthy 8–19 year old participants while completing visuospatial relational reasoning problems similar to Raven’s matrices and current elementary grade math textbooks. Analyses revealed that visuospatial relational reasoning across this developmental age range recruited activations in the superior parietal cortices most prominently, the dorsolateral prefrontal, occipital–temporal, and premotor/supplementary cortices, the basal ganglia, and insula. There were comparable activity volumes in left and right hemispheres for nearly all of these regions. Regression analyses indicated increasing activity predominantly in the superior parietal lobes with developmental age. In contrast, multiple anterior neural systems showed significantly less activity with age, including dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal, paracentral, and insula cortices bilaterally, basal ganglia, and particularly large clusters in the midline anterior cingulate/medial frontal cortex, left middle cingulate/supplementary motor cortex, left insula-putamen, and left caudate. Findings suggest that neuromaturational changes associated with visuospatial relational reasoning shift from a more widespread fronto-cingulate-striatal pattern in childhood to predominant parieto-frontal activation pattern in late adolescence.
Keywords
  • Brain -- Physiology,
  • Brain,
  • Cognition,
  • Diagnostic imaging
Publication Date
February, 2009
Publisher Statement
Copyright 2008 Elsevier DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2008.04.010
Citation Information
Paul J. Eslinger, Clancy Blair, JianLi Wang, Bryn Lipovsky, et al.. "Developmental Shifts in fMRI Activations During Visuospatial Relational Reasoning" Brain and Cognition Vol. 69 (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/steven_thorne/15/