Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, USA.
Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Guangdong, China; School of Nursing, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA.
Cortex. 2019 Oct;119:428-440. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.07.019. Epub 2019 Aug 14.
Cognitive fatigue (CF) impairs ability to perform daily activities, is a common complaint of aging and a symptom of multiple neurological conditions. However, knowledge of the neural basis of CF is limited. This is partially because CF is difficult to systematically modulate in brain imaging experiments. The most common approach has been to scan brain activity during effortful cognitive tasks. Consequently, neural correlates of CF tend to be task-specific and may vary across tasks. This makes it difficult to know how results generalize across studies and is outside the subjective experience of CF which tends to be similar in different tasks. It has been hypothesized that the subjective experience of CF might arise from domain general systems monitoring and acting on energy depletion in task specific circuits. Direct supporting neural evidence is lacking. By repeatedly scanning aging individuals undertaking four different tasks using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and referencing scans to detailed CF self-ratings taken before and after scanning, we sought task-general correlates of CF. We ran a data-driven representational similarity analysis, treating each brain region as a candidate CF functional connectivity hub, and correlating inter-participant differences in hub-based connectivity patterns with inter-participant differences in self-rated CF-profiles (a pattern of ratings across 18 questions). Both right insula and right putamen-based network connectivity patterns reflected CF across all tasks and could underpin subjective experience of CF.
认知疲劳（CF）会损害执行日常活动的能力，是衰老的常见抱怨，也是多种神经疾病的症状。然而，对 CF 的神经基础知之甚少。这部分是因为 CF 在脑成像实验中难以系统地调节。最常见的方法是在费力的认知任务中扫描大脑活动。因此，CF 的神经相关性往往是特定于任务的，并且可能因任务而异。这使得很难知道研究结果如何在不同的研究中推广，并且与 CF 的主观体验不一致，CF 在不同的任务中往往是相似的。有人假设，CF 的主观体验可能源于对特定于任务的电路中能量消耗的一般领域系统的监测和作用。直接支持神经的证据是缺乏的。通过使用功能磁共振成像对 4 项不同任务进行反复扫描，并参考扫描前后的详细 CF 自我评分，我们寻找 CF 的任务一般相关性。我们进行了数据驱动的表示相似性分析，将每个大脑区域视为候选 CF 功能连接枢纽，并将基于枢纽的连接模式的参与者间差异与自我评定的 CF 图谱（18 个问题的评分模式）的参与者间差异相关联。右岛叶和右壳核的网络连接模式都反映了所有任务中的 CF，并且可以为 CF 的主观体验提供支持。
