School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
J Neuropsychol. 2020 Sep;14(3):467-495. doi: 10.1111/jnp.12201. Epub 2020 Feb 8.
Substantial evidence has suggested that reading and math are supported by executive processes (EP). However, to date little is known about which portion of the neural system underpinning domain-general executive skills works to support reading and math. In this study, we aimed to answer this question using fMRI via two complementary approaches. First, imaging data were acquired whilst a sample of 231 adolescents performed each of three separate tasks designed to assess reading comprehension, numerical magnitude estimation, and EP in working memory (WM), respectively. With careful task designs and conjunction analyses, we were able to isolate cross-domain brain activity specifically related to EP, as opposed to lower-level domain-general processes (e.g., visual processing). Second, the meta-analytic tool Neurosynth was used to independently identify brain regions involved reading, math, and EP. Using a combination of forward and reverse statistical inference and conjunction analyses, we again isolated brain regions specifically supporting domain-general EP. Results from both approaches yielded overlapping activation for reading, math, and EP in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, left inferior frontal junction, and left precentral gyrus. This pattern suggests that posterior regions of the prefrontal cortex, rather than more central regions such as mid-DLPFC, play a leading role in supporting domain-general EP utilized by both reading and math.
大量证据表明，阅读和数学都依赖于执行过程（EP）。然而，迄今为止，人们对支持阅读和数学的一般执行技能的神经基础的哪一部分知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们使用 fMRI 通过两种互补的方法来回答这个问题。首先，在 231 名青少年分别进行了三个独立任务的过程中采集了成像数据，这三个任务分别用于评估阅读理解、数值大小估计和工作记忆（WM）中的 EP。通过精心的任务设计和联合分析，我们能够分离出与 EP 相关的跨领域大脑活动，而不是与较低层次的一般领域过程（例如，视觉处理）相关的活动。其次，使用了元分析工具 Neurosynth 来独立识别与阅读、数学和 EP 相关的脑区。使用正向和反向统计推断以及联合分析的组合，我们再次分离出专门支持一般领域 EP 的大脑区域。两种方法的结果都在左侧腹外侧前额叶皮层、左侧下额额联合区和左侧中央前回中产生了阅读、数学和 EP 的重叠激活。这种模式表明，前额叶皮层的后部区域，而不是中间区域（如中背外侧前额叶皮层），在支持阅读和数学中使用的一般领域 EP 方面起着主导作用。
