An fNIRS examination of the neural correlates of mental rotation in preschoolers

Abstract

This study examined the neural correlates of mental rota on (MR) in preschoolers using func onal near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Fortyeight preschoolers completed a MR task in which they were asked to rotate a test s mulus to match a target s mulus. Results of compara ve and General Linear Model (GLM) analyses revealed significant differences between the High Performance (HP) and Low Performance (LP) groups. The two groups differed significantly in oxyhaemoglobin (HbO) change in Brodmann Areas (BAs) 6, 9 and 44. Specifically, significant increase in HbO in BA 44 was observed in both groups, while significant decrease in deoxyhaemoglobin (HbR) in BA 9 was observed only in the HP group and in BA 44 only in the LP group. These results jointly indicated BA 44 as one of the core neural correlates of MR in preschoolers, while BA 6 and BA 9 might also be involved in MR processing under a compensatory mechanism.

Neural Correlates of Mental Rotation in Preschoolers With High or Low Working Memory Capacity: An fNIRS Study

“…The regions of interest (ROIs) were located at Brodmann Areas (BAs) 6, 8, 9, 10, 40, and 44 (see Figure 4 ). Previous studies have shown that these areas might be activated during cognitive shifting, mental rotation, and other preschoolers’ cognitive activities ( Moriguchi and Hiraki, 2009 ; Wu et al, 2020 ). Ten channels were located in the right frontal cortex, and seven channels were located in the prefrontal cortex (see Figure 4 ).…”

“…All these studies, however, were conducted with adult participants. Recently, Wu et al (2020) examined the neural correlates of MR in preschoolers using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and found that BA6, BA9, BA44 were involved in the MR processing. But the role of working memory in preschoolers’ MR has not been explored, even though it is substantially engaged in mental rotation ( Gauthier et al, 2002 ; Hyun and Luck, 2007 ).…”

“…But the role of working memory in preschoolers’ MR has not been explored, even though it is substantially engaged in mental rotation ( Gauthier et al, 2002 ; Hyun and Luck, 2007 ). Therefore, this study will fill the gap by duplicating and extending the MR tasks by Wu et al (2020) to explore the relationship between working memory and mental rotation.…”

“…Therefore, they believed that fNIRS would be more widely used to monitor the occurrence of neuro-plasticity after neuro-rehabilitation and neuro-stimulation. Recently, Wu et al (2020) examined MR’s neural correlates in preschoolers using fNIRS and the mental rotation paradigms developed by Krüger et al (2014) . They found that the 48 Chinese preschoolers ( M = 66.15 months) could complete the behavioral tasks and be classified into Low and High MR performance groups.…”

“…However, the major finding that BA44 was the “neural correlate” (core brain area) of mental rotation might be confounded by other factors, such as it is also in charge of hand movements ( Gallagher et al, 2002 ). Future studies should control hand movements using a control task to reaffirm the precise contribution of BA44 in MR. Also, limited by the research design, Wu et al (2020) study did not explore working memory’s role, leaving a research gap to be filled by this study. Therefore, we have endeavored to address the following questions in this study:…”