Bersier Nadia M, Fornari Eleonora, Rumiati Raffaella I, Ionta Silvio
SensoriMotorLab, Department of Ophthalmology-University of Lausanne, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital-Fondation Asile des Aveugles, Av. de France 15, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Area of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy.
Cereb Cortex. 2025 Apr 1;35(4). doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf069.
Mental rotation is a spatial cognitive ability influenced by several factors, including cognitive traits. However, the relationship between mental rotation performance, cognitive traits, and brain activity is still uncertain. To fill this gap, we recorded functional magnetic resonance imaging data while 55 neurotypical participants performed mental rotation with images of geometric objects, human bodies, and real objects. Cognitive traits were evaluated through the Object-Spatial Imagery Questionnaire (visual cognitive style), a perspective-taking task, and the Cognitive Flexibility Scale. Analysis of accuracy and reaction time revealed that (i) mental rotation in spatial-visualizers was more accurate and faster than in object-visualizers, and (ii) visual cognitive style and perspective-taking positively correlated with mental rotation. Brain activity data indicated that (i) individuals with better mental rotation performance had smaller brain activation, particularly in sensorimotor regions, (ii) for the spatial-visual scale and perspective-taking, high scorers had smaller brain activity than low performers, (iii) for the object-visual scale, high scorers had greater brain activity than low scorers. Supporting a neural efficiency hypothesis, the present study highlights the influence of cognitive traits on mental rotation performance and brain efficiency, with spatial-visualizers showing more efficient neural processing. These findings contribute to our understanding of how cognitive styles shape spatial cognition.
心理旋转是一种受多种因素影响的空间认知能力，这些因素包括认知特质。然而，心理旋转表现、认知特质和大脑活动之间的关系仍不明确。为了填补这一空白，我们记录了55名神经正常参与者在对几何物体、人体和实物图像进行心理旋转时的功能磁共振成像数据。通过物体-空间意象问卷（视觉认知风格）、一个换位思考任务和认知灵活性量表对认知特质进行了评估。对准确性和反应时间的分析表明：（i）空间视觉者的心理旋转比物体视觉者更准确、更快；（ii）视觉认知风格和换位思考与心理旋转呈正相关。大脑活动数据表明：（i）心理旋转表现较好的个体大脑激活程度较小，尤其是在感觉运动区域；（ii）对于空间视觉量表和换位思考，高分者的大脑活动比低分者小；（iii）对于物体视觉量表，高分者的大脑活动比低分者大。本研究支持神经效率假说，强调了认知特质对心理旋转表现和大脑效率的影响，空间视觉者表现出更高效的神经处理。这些发现有助于我们理解认知风格如何塑造空间认知。
