Ohnishi Takashi, Matsuda Hiroshi, Hirakata Makiko, Ugawa Yoshikazu
Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital of Mental, Nervous and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan.
Neurosci Res. 2006 Aug;55(4):361-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2006.04.009. Epub 2006 Jun 2.
Visual-spatial navigation in familiar and unfamiliar environments is an essential requirement of daily life. Animal studies indicated the importance of the hippocampus for navigation. Neuroimaging studies demonstrated gender difference or strategies dependent difference of neural substrates for navigation. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured brain activity related to navigation in four groups of normal volunteers: good navigators (males and females) and poor navigators (males and females). In a whole group analysis, task related activity was noted in the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, parietal association areas, and the visual association areas. In group comparisons, good navigators showed a stronger activation in the medial temporal area and precuneus than poor navigators. There was neither sex effect nor interaction effect between sex and navigation ability. The activity in the left medial temporal areas was positively correlated with task performance, whereas activity in the right parietal area was negatively correlated with task performance. Furthermore, the activity in the bilateral medial temporal areas was positively correlated with scores reflecting preferred navigation strategies, whereas activity in the bilateral superior parietal lobules was negatively correlated with them. Our data suggest that different brain activities related to navigation should reflect navigation skill and strategies.
在熟悉和不熟悉的环境中进行视觉空间导航是日常生活的一项基本要求。动物研究表明海马体对导航的重要性。神经影像学研究显示了导航神经基质的性别差异或策略依赖性差异。我们使用功能磁共振成像，测量了四组正常志愿者（优秀导航者，包括男性和女性；以及较差导航者，包括男性和女性）与导航相关的大脑活动。在全组分析中，在海马体、海马旁回、后扣带回皮质、楔前叶、顶叶联合区和视觉联合区发现了与任务相关的活动。在组间比较中，优秀导航者在内侧颞叶区域和楔前叶的激活比差的导航者更强。性别与导航能力之间既没有性别效应也没有交互效应。左侧内侧颞叶区域的活动与任务表现呈正相关，而右侧顶叶区域的活动与任务表现呈负相关。此外，双侧内侧颞叶区域的活动与反映偏好导航策略的分数呈正相关，而双侧顶上小叶的活动与这些分数呈负相关。我们的数据表明，与导航相关的不同大脑活动应反映导航技能和策略。
