Functional cortical interaction patterns in visual perception and visuospatial problem solving.
To explore the integration of functional neuronal interactions in human higher cortical functions, we applied multivariate mathematical techniques to regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) increases induced by mental activity. rCBF was measured using the intravenous xenon-133 clearance technique with 32 bihemispheric detectors in 84 normal volunteers at rest and during both a visuoperceptual accuracy task and a visuospatial problem solving task. Both paradigms activated rCBF in bilateral premotor, motor and postcentral regions. Bilateral prefrontal activation occurred during problem solving but not during the perceptual accuracy task. Partial correlations coefficients and factor analysis identified significant interactions between numerous cortex regions in both tasks. There were highly ordered and integrated patterns of functional interaction patterns between cortex areas subserving elementary subfunctions of complex behavior. Cortical interaction analysis by such techniques is a useful tool to describe the functional anatomy of large-scale neurocognitive networks in the intact human brain. Imaging functional interactions between active cortex areas are complementary to other experimental neurophysiologic methods to explore brain-behavior relationships in health and disease.
Lagrèze
H L
HL
Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Bonn, Germany.
Hartmann
A
A
Anzinger
G
G
Schaub
A
A
Deister
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*