title: Thinking About a Task Is Associated with Increased Connectivity in Regions Activated by Task Performance.
abstract: We investigated whether functional neuroimaging of quiet "rest" can reveal the neural correlates of conscious thought. Using resting-state functional MRI, we measured functional connectivity during a resting scan that immediately followed performance of a finger tapping motor sequence task. Self-reports of the amount of time spent thinking about the task during the resting scan correlated with connectivity between regions of the motor network activated during task performance. Thus, thinking about a task is associated with coordinated activity in brain regions responsible for that task's performance. More generally, this study demonstrates the feasibility of using the combination of functional connectivity MRI and self-reports to examine the neural correlates of thought.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center , Boston, Massachusetts.|2 Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging , Charlestown, Massachusetts.|3 Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gregory
authors.affiliation: 4 Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology , Glasgow, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Edwin M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: 2 Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging , Charlestown, Massachusetts.|3 Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts.|5 Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital , Charlestown, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Dara S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Manoach
authors.affiliation: 3 Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts.|6 Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center , Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stickgold
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D057566:Self Report / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: conscious thought; functional connectivity; resting state; unconstrained thought