Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Partner Group of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Department for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, DGIST, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
Sci Rep. 2019 May 2;9(1):6825. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-43400-6.
To what extent are levels of cognitive expertise reflected in differential structural connectivity of the brain? We addressed this question by analyzing the white matter brain structure of experts (mathematicians) versus non-experts (non-mathematicians) using probabilistic tractography. Having mathematicians and non-mathematicians as participant groups enabled us to directly compare profiles of structural connectivity arising from individual levels of expertise in mathematics. Tracking from functional seed regions activated during the processing of complex arithmetic formulas revealed an involvement of various fiber bundles such the inferior fronto-occipital fascicle, arcuate fasciculus/superior longitudinal fasciculus (AF/SLF), cross-hemispheric connections of frontal lobe areas through the corpus callosum and cortico-subcortical connectivity via the bilateral thalamic radiation. With the aim of investigating expertise-dependent structural connectivity, the streamline density was correlated with the level of expertise, defined by automaticity of processing complex mathematics. The results showed that structural integrity of the AF/SLF was higher in individuals with higher automaticity, while stronger cortico-thalamic connectivity was associated with lower levels of automaticity. Therefore, we suggest that expertise in the domain of mathematics is reflected in plastic changes of the brain's white matter structure, possibly reflecting a general principle of cognitive expertise.
认知专长的程度在多大程度上反映在大脑的结构连接差异上？我们通过使用概率追踪技术分析专家（数学家）和非专家（非数学家）的大脑白质结构来解决这个问题。让数学家和非数学家作为参与者群体，使我们能够直接比较数学中个体专长水平产生的结构连接模式。从处理复杂算术公式时激活的功能种子区域进行追踪，揭示了各种纤维束的参与，例如下额枕束、弓状束/上纵束（AF/SLF）、通过胼胝体的额叶区域的半球间连接以及通过双侧丘脑辐射的皮质下连接。为了研究专长相关的结构连接，我们将流线密度与由处理复杂数学的自动化程度定义的专长水平进行了相关分析。结果表明，具有更高自动化程度的个体的 AF/SLF 的结构完整性更高，而更强的皮质-丘脑连接与较低的自动化程度相关。因此，我们认为，数学领域的专长反映在大脑白质结构的可塑性变化中，这可能反映了认知专长的一般原则。
