Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Disrupts Digit Span Task Performance

Alemán, André; Wout-Frank, Mascha van ’t

doi:10.1159/000129666

Cited by 53 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…attentional resources, relative to those involved in forward recall. The basic effects of 2-back indicate a role for the central executive in encoding short sequences of verbal information (e.g., Aleman & van 't Wout, 2008;Baddeley et al, 2009), but this was no larger for backward than for forward recall. Experiment 1 further revealed that performing a visuospatial task during encoding did not impair backward recall, relative to forward recall, suggesting that it does not particularly rely on visuo-spatial resources either.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Are forward and backward recall the same? A dual-task study of digit recall

Clair-Thompson

Allen

2012

Mem Cogn

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There is some debate surrounding the cognitive resources underlying backward digit recall. Some researchers consider it to differ from forward digit recall due to the involvement of executive control, while others suggest that backward recall involves visuospatial resources. Five experiments therefore investigated the role of executive-attentional and visuospatial resources in both forward and backward digit recall. In the first, participants completed visuospatial 0-back and 2-back tasks during the encoding of information to be remembered. The concurrent tasks did not differentially disrupt performance on backward digit recall, relative to forward digit recall. Experiment 2 shifted concurrent load to the recall phase instead and, in this case, revealed a larger effect of both tasks on backward recall, relative to forwards recall, suggesting that backward recall may draw on additional resources during the recall phase and that these resources are visuospatial in nature. Experiments 3 and 4 then further investigated the role of visual processes in forward and backward recall using dynamic visual noise (DVN). In Experiment 3, DVN was presented during encoding of information to be remembered and had no effect upon performance. However, in Experiment 4, it was presented during the recall phase, and the results provided evidence of a role for visual imagery in backward digit recall. These results were replicated in Experiment 5, in which the same list length was used for forward and backward recall tasks. The findings are discussed in terms of both theoretical and practical implications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Are forward and backward recall the same? A dual-task study of digit recall

Clair-Thompson

Allen

2012

Mem Cogn

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“…Conversely, poorer performance on a task reflecting attentional capacity and maintenance of information in short-term memory (Digit Span scores) was the only significant neuropsychological deterioration over time in MCI-V cases. A direct role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in this task has been demonstrated by reversible disruption of this area using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation [31]. In this regard, with the criteria used to define our MCI-V patients [7], frontal lobe dysfunction appears to be the core cognitive signature defining the condition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progressive Gray Matter Atrophy in Lacunar Patients with Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment

et al. 2010

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Background and Method: We investigated the progression of cognitive and cerebral changes in 30 patients with a first-ever lacunar infarct (LI): 15 with vascular mild cognitive impairment (MCI-V) and 15 without cognitive impairment. All cases were followed up 18 ± 6 months after the stroke and underwent neurological, neuropsychological and MRI assessments at baseline and longitudinally. Results: Differences in the changes in cognitive function over time were observed between the 2 groups, with the MCI-V patients showing slight memory improvements and frontal-lobe-related test impairments from baseline to follow-up evaluations. At baseline, the 2 groups presented similar white matter hyperintensity (WMH) ratings and whole brain gray matter (GM) volumes, and at the follow-up evaluations, both groups had increased WMH lesions and decreased GM volumes; no statistical differences between groups were found. In contrast, a voxel-based morphometry analysis revealed that only MCI-V patients presented clear regional GM volume losses between the first and the second evaluations in cortical (frontal and temporal) and subcortical (pons, cerebellum and caudate) regions. Conclusion: Frontal lobe dysfunction and regional cortical and subcortical GM atrophy best differentiate the clinical course of LI patients with and without cognitive impairment.

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“…Hoshi et al [14] conducted an NIRS study and reported that activation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is related to performance in the digit span backward task. A previous repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation study has suggested that the right DLPFC plays a crucial role in the performance of the digit span task [18] . Nevertheless, it has not yet been clearly established whether the right DLPFC plays a crucial role during the performance of this task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Hoshi et al [14] studied activation of regions of the DLPFC and observed that half of the subjects in their study exhibited greater activation of the right DLPFC whereas the other half exhibited greater activation of the left DLPFC. In the study of Aleman and Wout [18] , the left DLPFC was not examined; this suggests that it may be involved in the digit span task. Furthermore, the sample size of the latter two studies was very small; therefore, further studies are required to clarify the involvement of the DLPFC in the digit span task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hemodynamic Changes in the Prefrontal Cortex during Digit Span Task: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

et al. 2010

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Background/Aims: In this study, we examined changes in the concentrations of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin (oxy- and deoxy-Hb, respectively) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during the digit span task by using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Methods: The digit span task consists of the digit span forward and backward tasks. The tasks were performed by 22 healthy undergraduate students who participated in this study. Differences in the mean concentrations of oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb between the baseline and task intervals were evaluated. Results: In digit span backward, oxy-Hb was significantly higher during the task interval than during the baseline. Further, deoxy-Hb was significantly lower during the task interval than during the baseline in both digit span forward and digit span backward. Digit span forward performance was significantly higher for the right-PFC-dominant group than for the left-PFC-dominant group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the digit span backward task is more demanding and requires greater activation of the prefrontal cortex than the digit span forward task. Our NIRS findings suggest that the digit span backward task involves executive functioning.

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Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Disrupts Digit Span Task Performance

Cited by 53 publications

References 47 publications

Are forward and backward recall the same? A dual-task study of digit recall

Are forward and backward recall the same? A dual-task study of digit recall

Progressive Gray Matter Atrophy in Lacunar Patients with Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment

Hemodynamic Changes in the Prefrontal Cortex during Digit Span Task: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

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