title: Individual differences in cognitive style and strategy predict similarities in the patterns of brain activity between individuals.
abstract: Neuroimaging is being used increasingly to make inferences about an individual. Yet, those inferences are often confounded by the fact that topographical patterns of task-related brain activity can vary greatly from person to person. This study examined two factors that may contribute to the variability across individuals in a memory retrieval task: individual differences in cognitive style and individual differences in encoding strategy. Cognitive style was probed using a battery of assessments focused on the individual's tendency to visualize or verbalize written material. Encoding strategy was probed using a series of questions designed to assess typical strategies that an individual might utilize when trying to remember a list of words. Similarity in brain activity was assessed by cross-correlating individual t-statistic maps contrasting the BOLD response during retrieval to the BOLD response during fixation. Individual differences in cognitive style and encoding strategy accounted for a significant portion of the variance in similarity. This was true above and beyond individual differences in anatomy and memory performance. These results demonstrate the need for a multidimensional approach in the use of fMRI to make inferences about an individual.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, USA. miller@psych.ucsb.edu
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Christa-Lynn
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.forename: Craig M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Elissa M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Aminoff
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Mayer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D007206:Individuality; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult