Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The frontal lobe has been associated to a wide range of cognitive control functions and is also vulnerable to degeneration in old age. A recent study by Thomsen and colleagues showed a difference between a young and old sample in gre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2009-10-01
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| Series: | Behavioral and Brain Functions |
| Online Access: | http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/5/1/41 |
| _version_ | 1811249783090708480 |
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| author | Lundervold Arvid Ystad Martin Andersson Martin Lundervold Astri J |
| author_facet | Lundervold Arvid Ystad Martin Andersson Martin Lundervold Astri J |
| author_sort | Lundervold Arvid |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The frontal lobe has been associated to a wide range of cognitive control functions and is also vulnerable to degeneration in old age. A recent study by Thomsen and colleagues showed a difference between a young and old sample in grey matter density and activation in the left middle frontal cortex (MFC) and performance on a dichotic listening task. The present study investigated this brain behaviour association within a sample of healthy older individuals, and predicted a positive correlation between performance in a condition requiring executive attention and measures of grey matter structure of the posterior left MFC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A dichotic listening forced attention paradigm was used to measure attention control functions. Subjects were instructed to report only the left or the right ear syllable of a dichotically presented consonant-vowel syllable pair. A conflict situation appears when subjects are instructed to report the left ear stimulus, caused by the conflict with the bottom-up, stimulus-driven right ear advantage. Overcoming this processing conflict was used as a measure of executive attention. Thickness and volumes of frontal lobe regions were derived from automated segmentation of 3D magnetic resonance image acquisitions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between the thickness measure of the left posterior MFC and performance on the dichotic listening measures of executive attention. Follow-up analyses showed that this correlation was only statistically significant in the subgroup that showed the typical bottom-up, stimulus-driven right ear advantage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results suggest that the left MFC is a part of an executive attention network, and that the dichotic listening forced attention paradigm may be a feasible tool for assessing subtle attentional dysfunctions in older adults.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:52:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c172e333143448c96af76937bce889d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1744-9081 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:52:36Z |
| publishDate | 2009-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral and Brain Functions |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c172e333143448c96af76937bce889d2022-12-22T03:26:27ZengBMCBehavioral and Brain Functions1744-90812009-10-01514110.1186/1744-9081-5-41Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening studyLundervold ArvidYstad MartinAndersson MartinLundervold Astri J<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The frontal lobe has been associated to a wide range of cognitive control functions and is also vulnerable to degeneration in old age. A recent study by Thomsen and colleagues showed a difference between a young and old sample in grey matter density and activation in the left middle frontal cortex (MFC) and performance on a dichotic listening task. The present study investigated this brain behaviour association within a sample of healthy older individuals, and predicted a positive correlation between performance in a condition requiring executive attention and measures of grey matter structure of the posterior left MFC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A dichotic listening forced attention paradigm was used to measure attention control functions. Subjects were instructed to report only the left or the right ear syllable of a dichotically presented consonant-vowel syllable pair. A conflict situation appears when subjects are instructed to report the left ear stimulus, caused by the conflict with the bottom-up, stimulus-driven right ear advantage. Overcoming this processing conflict was used as a measure of executive attention. Thickness and volumes of frontal lobe regions were derived from automated segmentation of 3D magnetic resonance image acquisitions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between the thickness measure of the left posterior MFC and performance on the dichotic listening measures of executive attention. Follow-up analyses showed that this correlation was only statistically significant in the subgroup that showed the typical bottom-up, stimulus-driven right ear advantage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results suggest that the left MFC is a part of an executive attention network, and that the dichotic listening forced attention paradigm may be a feasible tool for assessing subtle attentional dysfunctions in older adults.</p>http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/5/1/41 |
| spellingShingle | Lundervold Arvid Ystad Martin Andersson Martin Lundervold Astri J Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening study Behavioral and Brain Functions |
| title | Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening study |
| title_full | Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening study |
| title_fullStr | Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening study |
| title_short | Correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus - a dichotic listening study |
| title_sort | correlations between measures of executive attention and cortical thickness of left posterior middle frontal gyrus a dichotic listening study |
| url | http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/5/1/41 |
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