Mental rotation task specifically modulates functional connectivity strength of intrinsic brain activity in low frequency domains: A maximum uncertainty linear discriminant analysis

• Published in: Behavioural brain research Vol. 320; pp. 233 - 243
• Main Authors: Gao, Mengxia, Zhang, Delong, Wang, Zengjian, Liang, Bishan, Cai, Yuxuan, Gao, Zhenni, Li, Junchao, Chang, Song, Jiao, Bingqing, Huang, Ruiwang, Liu, Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-03-2017
• Subjects: Adult; Attention - physiology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain Mapping; Discriminant Analysis; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Frequency-bandwidth; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mental Processes - physiology; Mental rotation task; Neural Pathways - diagnostic imaging; Neuropsychological Tests; Oxygen - blood; Reaction Time - physiology; Resting-state fMRI; Rotation; Voxel-wise functional connectivity strength; Young Adult; Mental rotation task; Resting-state fMRI; Discriminant analysis; Frequency-bandwidth; Voxel-wise functional connectivity strength
• ISSN: 0166-4328; 1872-7549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.12.017

•MLDA method effectively discriminates the resting and task state based on FCS.•The modulation of FCS is observed in the low frequency band 0.05–0.1Hz.•Imagery-based and executive-control function are differently involved in mental rotation.•Exploration of modulation effect provides full view of the neural basis of mental rotation.
Neuroimaging studies have highlighted that intrinsic brain activity is modified to implement task demands. However, the relation between mental rotation and intrinsic brain activity remains unclear. To answer this question, we collected functional MRI (fMRI) data from 30 healthy participants in two mental rotation task periods (1st-task state, 2nd-task state) and two rest periods before (pre-task resting state) and after the task (post-task resting state) respectively. By combining the spatial independent component analysis (ICA) and voxel-wise functional connectivity strength (FCS), we identified FCS maps of 10 brain resting state networks (RSNs) within six different bands (i.e., 0–0.05, 0.05–0.1, 0.1–0.15, 0.15–0.2, 0.2–0.25, and 0.01–0.08Hz) corresponding to the four states for each subject. The maximum uncertainty linear discriminant analysis (MLDA) method showed that the FCS within the low frequency bandwidth of 0.05–0.1Hz could effectively classify the mental rotation task state from pre-/post-task resting states but failed to discriminate the pre- and post-task resting states. Discriminative FCSs were observed in the cognitive executive-control network (central executive and attention) and the imagery-based internal mental manipulation network (default mode, primary sensorimotor, and primary visual). Imagery manipulation is a stable mental element of mental rotation, and the involvement of executive control is dependent on the degree of task familiarity. Together, the present study provides evidence that mental rotation task specifically modifies intrinsic brain activity to complement cognitive demands, which provides further insight into the neural basis of mental rotation manipulation.