Diffusion property and functional connectivity of superior longitudinal fasciculus underpin human metacognition.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Metacognition as the capacity of monitoring one's own cognition operates across domains. Here, we addressed whether metacognition in different cognitive domains rely on common or distinct neural substrates with combined diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques. After acquiring DTI and resting-state fMRI data, we asked participants to perform a temporal-order memory task and a perceptual discrimination task, followed by trial-specific confidence judgments. DTI analysis revealed that the structural integrity (indexed by fractional anisotropy) in the anterior portion of right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) was associated with both perceptual and mnemonic metacognitive abilities. Using perturbed mnemonic metacognitive scores produced by inhibiting the precuneus using TMS, the mnemonic metacognition scores did not correlate with individuals' SLF structural integrity anymore, revealing the relevance of this tract in memory metacognition. To further verify the involvement of several cortical regions connected by SLF, we took the TMS-targeted precuneus region as a seed in a functional connectivity analysis and found the functional connectivity between precuneus and two SLF-connected regions (inferior parietal cortex and precentral gyrus) mediated mnemonic metacognition performance. These results illustrate the importance of SLF and a putative white-matter grey-matter circuitry that supports human metacognition.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Zheng, Y; Wang, D; Ye, Q; Zou, F; Li, Y; Kwok, SC
Published Date
- June 2021
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 156 /
Start / End Page
- 107847 -
PubMed ID
- 33812946
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1873-3514
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0028-3932
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107847
Language
- eng