A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of mental subtraction in human subjects

The neuronal network involved in a precise type of calculation procedure, mental subtraction, was investigated by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Two tasks were used requiring covert production of numbers: (1) with calculation; (2) without calculation. During the first task, activati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNeuroscience letters Vol. 273; no. 3; pp. 195 - 199
Main Authors Burbaud, Pierre, Camus, Olivier, Guehl, D., Bioulac, Bernard, Caillé, Jean-Marie, Allard, Michèle
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 08.10.1999
Elsevier
Subjects
Adult
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Mapping - methods
Broca's area
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive procedure
Cortical lateralization
Female
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Mathematics
Mental calculation
Problem Solving - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Cognitive procedure
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Cortical lateralization
Mental calculation
Human
Cerebral cortex
Arithmetics
Imaging
Central nervous system
Neural network
Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
Mental activity
Brain (vertebrata)
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Summary:The neuronal network involved in a precise type of calculation procedure, mental subtraction, was investigated by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Two tasks were used requiring covert production of numbers: (1) with calculation; (2) without calculation. During the first task, activation was observed in the left dorsolateral prefrontal and premotor cortices, in Broca's area and bilaterally in the inferior parietal cortex. During the second task, activation was mainly observed in Broca's area and to a less extent in the left prefrontal and premotor cortices. Statistical comparison of data in the two situations revealed that the procedure of mental subtraction is mediated by a distributed system which includes predominantly the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the inferior parietal cortex bilaterally.
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ISSN:0304-3940
1872-7972
DOI:10.1016/S0304-3940(99)00641-2