Department of Neuroscience Imaging and Clinical Science, University "G. d'Annunzio", Via dei Vestini 33, 66100, Chieti, Italy.
Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, 00185, Rome, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 17;13(1):6218. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33533-0.
Neuroimaging studies associate specific functional roles to distinct brain regions investigating separate cognitive processes using dedicated tasks. For example, using both correlative (i.e., fMRI) and causal (i.e., TMS) approaches it has been shown the involvement of intra-parietal sulcus (IPS), as part of the dorsal attention network, in spatial attentional tasks as well as the importance of the angular gyrus (AG), as part of the default mode network, during the selection of relevant information in semantic memory. Nonetheless, in our daily life attention and semantic memory are rarely needed in isolation. In the present TMS study we investigate how the brain combines attentional and semantic memory demands in a single task. Results showed that, compared to a pseudo-TMS, stimulation of IPS, but not AG, affects behavioral performance, thus suggesting its preponderant role in such a combined task. Moreover, the lack of difference between the effect of IPS and AG stimulations seems to suggest that the two regions may be coactivated or that a third-party source might indirectly mediate the interaction between the two networks.
神经影像学研究通过专门的任务将特定的功能角色与不同的大脑区域联系起来，以研究不同的认知过程。例如，使用相关（即 fMRI）和因果（即 TMS）方法已经表明，顶内沟（IPS）作为背侧注意网络的一部分，参与空间注意任务，以及角回（AG）作为默认模式网络的一部分，在选择语义记忆中的相关信息时的重要性。然而，在我们的日常生活中，注意力和语义记忆很少是孤立需要的。在本 TMS 研究中，我们研究了大脑如何在单个任务中结合注意力和语义记忆需求。结果表明，与伪 TMS 相比，IPS 的刺激而不是 AG 的刺激会影响行为表现，因此表明其在这种组合任务中的主导作用。此外，IPS 和 AG 刺激之间的效果差异似乎表明，这两个区域可能同时被激活，或者第三方来源可能间接地介导两个网络之间的相互作用。
