McMillan Kathryn M, Laird Angela R, Witt Suzanne T, Meyerand M Elizabeth
Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Brain Res. 2007 Mar 30;1139:133-42. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.12.058. Epub 2006 Dec 23.
Self-paced versions of many paradigms could have utility in probing cognitive systems. To validate several self-paced n-back paradigms, fourteen subjects performed four variations of the working memory task using visually presented letters as stimuli. Several areas in the frontal lobe, the anterior cingulate and a parietal network were consistently activated in the four variations: identity of black letters, location of black letters, color of colored letters and identity of colored letters. Since the n-back task is one of the more popular methods of investigating working memory, we validated the utility of several self-paced versions in normal subjects via quantitative, coordinate-based meta-analyses. The self-paced results agree well with meta-analyses and other published results, giving confidence that a self-paced n-back paradigm is robust in multiple variations. Behavioral results differ from other published reports, perhaps offering insight into true working memory strategy in normal subjects.
许多范式的自定节奏版本在探究认知系统方面可能具有实用性。为了验证几种自定节奏的n-back范式，14名受试者使用视觉呈现的字母作为刺激执行了工作记忆任务的四种变体。在这四种变体中，额叶的几个区域、前扣带回和一个顶叶网络持续被激活：黑色字母的同一性、黑色字母的位置、彩色字母的颜色和彩色字母的同一性。由于n-back任务是研究工作记忆的较流行方法之一，我们通过基于坐标的定量元分析验证了几种自定节奏版本在正常受试者中的实用性。自定节奏的结果与元分析和其他已发表的结果非常吻合，这让人相信自定节奏的n-back范式在多种变体中是稳健的。行为结果与其他已发表的报告不同，这或许能为正常受试者真正的工作记忆策略提供见解。
