Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults
The vast majority of fMRI studies of task-related brain activity utilize common levels of task demands and analyses that rely on the central tendencies of the data. This approach does not take into account perceived difficulty nor regional variations in brain activity between people. The results are...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-08-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811922004207 |
| _version_ | 1811231674467352576 |
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| author | Jason Steffener Chris Habeck Dylan Franklin Meghan Lau Yara Yakoub Maryse Gad |
| author_facet | Jason Steffener Chris Habeck Dylan Franklin Meghan Lau Yara Yakoub Maryse Gad |
| author_sort | Jason Steffener |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The vast majority of fMRI studies of task-related brain activity utilize common levels of task demands and analyses that rely on the central tendencies of the data. This approach does not take into account perceived difficulty nor regional variations in brain activity between people. The results are findings of brain-behavior relationships that weaken as sample sizes increase. Participants of the current study included twenty-six healthy young adults evenly split between the sexes. The current work utilizes five parametrically modulated levels of memory load centered around each individual's predetermined working memory cognitive capacity. Principal components analyses (PCA) identified the group-level central tendency of the data. After removing the group effect from the data, PCA identified individual-level patterns of brain activity across the five levels of task demands. Expression of the group effect significantly differed between the sexes across all load levels. Expression of the individual level patterns demonstrated a significant load by sex interaction. Furthermore, expressions of the individual maps make better predictors of response time behavior than group-derived maps. We demonstrated that utilization of an individual's unique pattern of brain activity in response to increasing a task's perceived difficulty is a better predictor of brain-behavior relationships than study designs and analyses focused on identification of group effects. Furthermore, these methods facilitate exploration into how individual differences in patterns of brain activity relate to individual differences in behavior and cognition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:48:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4b8fe512d1a14817abb653da60b5129a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:48:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj.art-4b8fe512d1a14817abb653da60b5129a2022-12-22T03:36:18ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722022-08-01257119301Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adultsJason Steffener0Chris Habeck1Dylan Franklin2Meghan Lau3Yara Yakoub4Maryse Gad5Interdisciplinary School of Health Science, University of Ottawa, 200 Lees, Lees Campus, Office # E250E, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S9, Canada; Corresponding author.Cognitive Neuroscience Division, Department of Neurology and Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and The Aging Brain, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, United StatesSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CanadaInterdisciplinary School of Health Science, University of Ottawa, 200 Lees, Lees Campus, Office # E250E, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S9, CanadaInterdisciplinary School of Health Science, University of Ottawa, 200 Lees, Lees Campus, Office # E250E, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S9, CanadaInterdisciplinary School of Health Science, University of Ottawa, 200 Lees, Lees Campus, Office # E250E, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S9, CanadaThe vast majority of fMRI studies of task-related brain activity utilize common levels of task demands and analyses that rely on the central tendencies of the data. This approach does not take into account perceived difficulty nor regional variations in brain activity between people. The results are findings of brain-behavior relationships that weaken as sample sizes increase. Participants of the current study included twenty-six healthy young adults evenly split between the sexes. The current work utilizes five parametrically modulated levels of memory load centered around each individual's predetermined working memory cognitive capacity. Principal components analyses (PCA) identified the group-level central tendency of the data. After removing the group effect from the data, PCA identified individual-level patterns of brain activity across the five levels of task demands. Expression of the group effect significantly differed between the sexes across all load levels. Expression of the individual level patterns demonstrated a significant load by sex interaction. Furthermore, expressions of the individual maps make better predictors of response time behavior than group-derived maps. We demonstrated that utilization of an individual's unique pattern of brain activity in response to increasing a task's perceived difficulty is a better predictor of brain-behavior relationships than study designs and analyses focused on identification of group effects. Furthermore, these methods facilitate exploration into how individual differences in patterns of brain activity relate to individual differences in behavior and cognition.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811922004207Brain-behaviorSubjective difficultyVerbal recognition-based memoryfMRIIndividual-level mappingSex differences |
| spellingShingle | Jason Steffener Chris Habeck Dylan Franklin Meghan Lau Yara Yakoub Maryse Gad Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults NeuroImage Brain-behavior Subjective difficulty Verbal recognition-based memory fMRI Individual-level mapping Sex differences |
| title | Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults |
| title_full | Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults |
| title_fullStr | Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults |
| title_short | Subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition-based memory task: Exploring brain-behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults |
| title_sort | subjective difficulty in a verbal recognition based memory task exploring brain behaviour relationships at the individual level in healthy young adults |
| topic | Brain-behavior Subjective difficulty Verbal recognition-based memory fMRI Individual-level mapping Sex differences |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811922004207 |
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