title: Brain networks of explicit and implicit learning.
abstract: Are explicit versus implicit learning mechanisms reflected in the brain as distinct neural structures, as previous research indicates, or are they distinguished by brain networks that involve overlapping systems with differential connectivity? In this functional MRI study we examined the neural correlates of explicit and implicit learning of artificial grammar sequences. Using effective connectivity analyses we found that brain networks of different connectivity underlie the two types of learning: while both processes involve activation in a set of cortical and subcortical structures, explicit learners engage a network that uses the insula as a key mediator whereas implicit learners evoke a direct frontal-striatal network. Individual differences in working memory also differentially impact the two types of sequence learning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009415:Nerve Net; D016011:Normal Distribution; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012691:Serial Learning / Q000502:physiology