An fMRI paradigm based on Williams inhibition test to study the neural substrates of attention and inhibitory control

• Published in: Neurological sciences Vol. 38; no. 12; pp. 2145 - 2152
• Main Authors: Dores, Artemisa R., Barbosa, Fernando, Carvalho, Irene P., Almeida, Isabel, Guerreiro, Sandra, da Rocha, Benedita Martins, Cunha, Gil, Castelo Branco, Miguel, de Sousa, Liliana, Castro Caldas, Alexandre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Milan Springer Milan 01.12.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Anatomy; Attention; Attention - physiology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain - physiopathology; Brain architecture; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - diagnostic imaging; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - physiopathology; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - psychology; Brain injury; Brain Mapping; Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology; Cortex (cingulate); Data processing; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Inhibition (Psychology); Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Original Article; Oxygen - blood; Prefrontal cortex; Psychiatry; Reaction Time; Self-Control; Stroke - diagnostic imaging; Stroke - physiopathology; Stroke - psychology; Traumatic brain injury; fMRI; Inhibitory control; Prefrontal cortex; Attentional control; Williams inhibition test (WIT)
• ISSN: 1590-1874; 1590-3478
• DOI: 10.1007/s10072-017-3104-5

The purpose of this study is to present an fMRI paradigm, based on the Williams inhibition test (WIT), to study attentional and inhibitory control and their neuroanatomical substrates. We present an index of the validity of the proposed paradigm and test whether the experimental task discriminates the behavioral performances of healthy participants from those of individuals with acquired brain injury. Stroop and Simon tests present similarities with WIT, but this latter is more demanding. We analyze the BOLD signal in 10 healthy participants performing the WIT. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the inferior prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex were defined for specified region of interest analysis. We additionally compare behavioral data (hits, errors, reaction times) of the healthy participants with those of eight acquired brain injury patients. Data were analyzed with GLM-based random effects and Mann-Whitney tests. Results show the involvement of the defined regions and indicate that the WIT is sensitive to brain lesions. This WIT-based block design paradigm can be used as a research methodology for behavioral and neuroimaging studies of the attentional and inhibitory components of executive functions.