Chavan Camille F, Mouthon Michael, Draganski Bogdan, van der Zwaag Wietske, Spierer Lucas
Neurology Unit, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Sciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
LREN, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Vaudois Hospital University Center, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2015 Jul;36(7):2527-43. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22789. Epub 2015 Mar 19.
Ample evidence indicates that inhibitory control (IC), a key executive component referring to the ability to suppress cognitive or motor processes, relies on a right-lateralized fronto-basal brain network. However, whether and how IC can be improved with training and the underlying neuroplastic mechanisms remains largely unresolved. We used functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging to measure the effects of 2 weeks of training with a Go/NoGo task specifically designed to improve frontal top-down IC mechanisms. The training-induced behavioral improvements were accompanied by a decrease in neural activity to inhibition trials within the right pars opercularis and triangularis, and in the left pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyri. Analyses of changes in brain anatomy induced by the IC training revealed increases in grey matter volume in the right pars orbitalis and modulations of white matter microstructure in the right pars triangularis. The task-specificity of the effects of training was confirmed by an absence of change in neural activity to a control working memory task. Our combined anatomical and functional findings indicate that differential patterns of functional and structural plasticity between and within inferior frontal gyri enhanced the speed of top-down inhibition processes and in turn IC proficiency. The results suggest that training-based interventions might help overcoming the anatomic and functional deficits of inferior frontal gyri manifesting in inhibition-related clinical conditions. More generally, we demonstrate how multimodal neuroimaging investigations of training-induced neuroplasticity enable revealing novel anatomo-functional dissociations within frontal executive brain networks.
大量证据表明，抑制控制（IC）作为一种关键的执行功能，指的是抑制认知或运动过程的能力，依赖于右侧化的额底脑网络。然而，IC是否以及如何通过训练得到改善以及潜在的神经可塑性机制在很大程度上仍未得到解决。我们使用功能和结构磁共振成像来测量为期2周的特定设计的Go/NoGo任务训练的效果，该任务旨在改善额叶自上而下的IC机制。训练引起的行为改善伴随着右侧额下回的眶部、三角部以及左侧额下回的眶部对抑制试验的神经活动减少。对IC训练引起的脑解剖结构变化的分析显示，右侧眶部的灰质体积增加，右侧三角部的白质微结构发生调制。对控制工作记忆任务的神经活动没有变化，证实了训练效果的任务特异性。我们综合的解剖学和功能学研究结果表明，额下回之间和内部功能和结构可塑性的差异模式提高了自上而下抑制过程的速度，进而提高了IC能力。结果表明，基于训练的干预措施可能有助于克服在与抑制相关的临床病症中表现出的额下回的解剖和功能缺陷。更普遍地说，我们展示了对训练诱导的神经可塑性的多模态神经影像学研究如何能够揭示额叶执行脑网络内新的解剖-功能分离。
