Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China.
School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China.
Neuropsychologia. 2021 Jun 18;156:107847. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107847. Epub 2021 Apr 1.
Metacognition as the capacity of monitoring one's own cognition operates across domains. Here, we addressed whether metacognition in different cognitive domains rely on common or distinct neural substrates with combined diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques. After acquiring DTI and resting-state fMRI data, we asked participants to perform a temporal-order memory task and a perceptual discrimination task, followed by trial-specific confidence judgments. DTI analysis revealed that the structural integrity (indexed by fractional anisotropy) in the anterior portion of right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) was associated with both perceptual and mnemonic metacognitive abilities. Using perturbed mnemonic metacognitive scores produced by inhibiting the precuneus using TMS, the mnemonic metacognition scores did not correlate with individuals' SLF structural integrity anymore, revealing the relevance of this tract in memory metacognition. To further verify the involvement of several cortical regions connected by SLF, we took the TMS-targeted precuneus region as a seed in a functional connectivity analysis and found the functional connectivity between precuneus and two SLF-connected regions (inferior parietal cortex and precentral gyrus) mediated mnemonic metacognition performance. These results illustrate the importance of SLF and a putative white-matter grey-matter circuitry that supports human metacognition.
元认知作为监测自身认知的能力，在各个领域都有体现。在这里，我们通过联合弥散张量成像（DTI）和功能磁共振成像（fMRI）技术，探讨了不同认知领域的元认知是否依赖于共同或不同的神经基础。在获取 DTI 和静息态 fMRI 数据后，我们要求参与者执行时间顺序记忆任务和知觉辨别任务，然后进行特定于试验的置信度判断。DTI 分析表明，右侧上纵束（SLF）前部的结构完整性（以各向异性分数表示）与知觉和记忆元认知能力都有关。使用经 TMS 抑制顶下小叶产生的受干扰的记忆元认知分数，记忆元认知分数与个体的 SLF 结构完整性不再相关，揭示了该束在记忆元认知中的相关性。为了进一步验证由 SLF 连接的几个皮质区域的参与，我们以 TMS 靶向的顶下小叶区域为种子，在功能连接分析中发现顶下小叶与两个 SLF 连接区域（下顶叶皮层和中央前回）之间的功能连接介导了记忆元认知表现。这些结果说明了 SLF 以及支持人类元认知的潜在白质-灰质连接的重要性。
