Distinct prefrontal activations in processing sequence at the sentence and script level: An fMRI study

Neuropsychological studies have shown that the prefrontal cortex is important in planning and monitoring everyday behaviour. In this study, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated whether specific prefrontal regions are involved in processing a sequence of actions. Subjects were required to perform two different tasks: Script-event order and Sentence-word order. Script sequence and word sequence processing were found to activate partially overlapping areas which are known to be implicated in language processing. In addition, the Script-task activated a large area in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 6 and 8, BA 6 and 8), in both the left and right hemispheres, as well as the left supplementary motor area and left angular gyrus (BA 39). Our results suggest that these prefrontal areas may be more specifically involved in the process of analysing sequential links in the action domain.

[1]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Spatial registration and normalization of images , 1995 .

[2]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  The role of the right hemisphere in the interpretation of figurative aspects of language. A positron emission tomography activation study. , 1994, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[3]  P W Burgess,et al.  Unilateral frontal lobectomy can produce strategy application disorder. , 1993, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[4]  JORDAN GRAFMAN,et al.  Similarities and Distinctions among Current Models of Prefrontal Cortical Functions , 1995, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[5]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  Planning and Spatial Working Memory: a Positron Emission Tomography Study in Humans , 1996, The European journal of neuroscience.

[6]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Distribution of cortical neural networks involved in word comprehension and word retrieval. , 1991, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[7]  Jordan Grafman,et al.  Encoding of Sequence and Boundaries of Scripts Following Prefrontal Lesions , 1996, Cortex.

[8]  R. Dolan,et al.  Neural systems engaged by planning: a PET study of the Tower of London task , 1996, Neuropsychologia.

[9]  C SchankRoger,et al.  Dynamic Memory: A Theory of Reminding and Learning in Computers and People , 1983 .

[10]  N. Sadato,et al.  Brain activation during script event processing , 1996, Neuroreport.

[11]  A. Sirigu,et al.  Distinct Frontal Regions for Processing Sentence Syntax and Story Grammar , 1998, Cortex.

[12]  Roger C. Schank,et al.  SCRIPTS, PLANS, GOALS, AND UNDERSTANDING , 1988 .

[13]  Stephen M. Rao,et al.  Human Brain Language Areas Identified by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging , 1997, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[14]  E C Wong,et al.  Processing strategies for time‐course data sets in functional mri of the human brain , 1993, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[15]  J. Grafman,et al.  A study of the performance of patients with frontal lobe lesions in a financial planning task. , 1997, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[16]  Jordan Grafman,et al.  Selective Impairments in Managerial Knowledge Following Pre-Frontal Cortex Damage , 1995, Cortex.

[17]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  The anatomy of phonological and semantic processing in normal subjects. , 1992, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[18]  J. Mazziotta,et al.  Mapping motor representations with positron emission tomography , 1994, Nature.

[19]  S. Dehaene,et al.  Anatomical variability in the cortical representation of first and second language , 1997, Neuroreport.

[20]  A. Damasio,et al.  Severe disturbance of higher cognition after bilateral frontal lobe ablation , 1985, Neurology.

[21]  T. Shallice,et al.  Deficits in strategy application following frontal lobe damage in man. , 1991, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[22]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  The neural correlates of the verbal component of working memory , 1993, Nature.

[23]  P. Jallon,et al.  Mesure de la préférence manuelle par autoquestionnaire dans la population française adulte , 1988 .

[24]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  Functional activation of the human frontal cortex during the performance of verbal working memory tasks. , 1993, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.