Structural and functional MRI evidence for significant contribution of precentral gyrus to flexible oculomotor control: evidence from the antisaccade task

Abstract

Antisaccade task requires inhibition of a prepotent prosaccade to a peripheral target and initiation of a saccade to the opposite location, and, therefore, is used as a tool to investigate behavioral adjustment. The frontal and parietal cortices are both known for their activation during saccade generation, but it is unclear whether their neuroanatomical characteristics also contribute to antisaccades. Here, we took antisaccade cost (antisaccade latency minus prosaccade latency) as an index for additional time for generating antisaccades. Fifty-eight participants conducted pro and antisaccade tasks outside the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and their structural MRI (sMRI) data were also collected to explore brain regions neuroanatomically related to antisaccade cost. Then, twelve participants performed saccade tasks in the scanner and their task-state functional MRI (fMRI) data were collected to verify the activation of structurally identified brain regions during the saccade generation. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) results revealed that gray matter volume (GMV) of the left precentral gyrus and the left insula were positively correlated with the antisaccade cost, which was validated by the prediction analysis. Brain activation results showed the activation of the precentral during both pro and antisaccade execution period, but not the insula. Our results suggest that precentral gyrus and insula play vital roles to antisaccade cost, but possibly in different ways. The insula, a key node of the salience network, possibly regulates the saliency processing of the target, while the precentral gyrus possibly mediates the generation of saccades. Our study especially highlights an outstanding role of the precentral gyrus in flexible oculomotor control.

A voxel-level resting-state fMRI study on patients with alcohol use disorders based on a power spectrum slope analysis method

“…Aberrant functional connectivity between the PreCG and left anterior insula was associated with processing of stressful experiences (Goodman et al, 2022). According to our research, the left PreCG was functionally implicated in saccade execution and may play a role in determining an individual's antisaccade cost (Jin et al, 2022). This study also investigated the feasibility of PSS method in differentiation of abnormal spontaneous activity of brain in AUD patients from healthy volunteers.…”

“…Aberrant functional connectivity between the PreCG and left anterior insula was associated with processing of stressful experiences ( Goodman et al, 2022 ). According to our research, the left PreCG was functionally implicated in saccade execution and may play a role in determining an individual’s antisaccade cost ( Jin et al, 2022 ).…”

Mindfulness-based intervention reduce interference of negative stimuli to working memory in individuals with subclinical depression: A randomized controlled fMRI study

“…The increased strength of the FC of the ACC-iLOC and InsulaR-PreCGl in the experimental group suggested that the intervention enhanced the ability to inhibit negative stimuli and that empathy and acceptance reduced emotional responses to negative stimuli. This may be because the precentral gyrus, as the primary motor cortex, controls the voluntary motor ( Jin et al, 2022 ), which may be associated with executive response inhibition. And the InsulaR and ACC are activated by empathy ( Hein et al, 2016 ).…”