Two networks involved in producing and realizing plans

• Published in: Neuropsychologia Vol. 50; no. 7; pp. 1521 - 1535
• Main Authors: Crescentini, Cristiano, Seyed-Allaei, Shima, Vallesi, Antonino, Shallice, Tim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-06-2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping; Cognition. Intelligence; Cortex (frontal); Cortex (prefrontal); Cortex (premotor); Cortex (temporal); DLPFC; Female; fMRI; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Memory; Memory, Short-Term - physiology; Neural Pathways - blood supply; Neural Pathways - physiology; Neuropsychological Tests; Oxygen - blood; Planning; Prefrontal Cortex - blood supply; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Problem Solving - physiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reaction Time; Reasoning. Problem solving; Short term memory; Space Perception - physiology; Spatial working memory; Tower of Hanoi; Young Adult; Spatial working memory; fMRI; Tower of Hanoi; Planning; DLPFC; Human; Central nervous system; Cognition; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Encephalon; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Problem solving; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Working memory; Functional imaging; Spatial memory
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.03.005

► We performed fMRI on a Planning task and a Working memory task. ► An Initial phase and an Execution phase were distinguished in both the two tasks. ► The DLPFC was preferentially active during initial planning. ► DLPFC contributes to planning over and above the effects of working memory. ► DLPFC is involved in the generation of abstract sequences of responses.
Planning is essential for normal daily activities. Although the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is thought to be crucially involved in planning, it remains to be understood whether this contribution is attributable to working memory requirements of the tasks and when it occurs, whether during initial planning or during subsequent plan execution. Here, we compared patterns of activation observed when participants planned and executed their plans to solve Tower of Hanoi problems to when they had to memorize and reproduce externally presented sequences of moves. The DLPFC was preferentially active during initial planning relative to both plan execution and initial memorization of sequences of moves. By contrast, plan execution relied on posterior temporal areas, inferior frontal regions and the dorsolateral premotor cortex. We attribute activation in DLPFC to generation and evaluation of abstract sequences of responses, and activation in the regions underlying plan execution to rehearsal of planned sequences of moves.