title: Attentional Control and Intelligence: MRI Orbital Frontal Gray Matter and Neuropsychological Correlates.
abstract: Attentional control is a key function of working memory that is hypothesized to play an important role in psychometric intelligence. To test the neuropsychological underpinnings of this hypothesis, we examined full-scale IQ, as measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III), and attentional control, as measured by Trails B response time and Wisconsin Card Sorting (WCS) test perseverative errors in 78 healthy participants, 25 of whom also had available magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) gray matter volume studies of the orbital frontal cortex (OFC) parcellated into three regions: gyrus rectus, middle orbital gyrus, and lateral orbital gyrus. Hierarchical regression indicated that Trails B response time specifically explained 15.13% to 19.18% of the variation in IQ and WCS perseverative errors accounted for an additional 8.12% to 11.29% of the variance. Full-scale IQ correlated very strongly with right middle orbital gyrus gray matter volume (r = 0.610, p = 0.002), as did Trails B response time with left middle orbital gyrus gray matter volume (r = -0.608, p = 0.003). Trails B response time and right middle orbital gyrus gray matter volume jointly accounted for approximately 32.95% to 54.82% of the variance in IQ scores. These results provided evidence of the unique contributions of attentional control and OFC gray matter to intelligence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02401, USA ; Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System-Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Nestor
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System-Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA ; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Motoaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System-Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niznikiewicz
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System-Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA ; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02401, USA ; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Dominick T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Newell
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System-Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA ; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System-Brockton Division, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCarley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests