Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory

Executive functions, including working memory, are typically assessed clinically with neuropsychological instruments. In contrast, computerized tasks are used to test these cognitive functions in laboratory human and animal studies. Little is known of how neural activity captured by laboratory tasks...

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Main Authors: August Jurva, Balbir Singh, Helen Qian, Zhengyang Wang, Monica L. Jacobs, Kaltra Dhima, Dario J. Englot, Shawniqua Williams Roberson, Sarah K. Bick, Christos Constantinidis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:NeuroImage
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002435
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author August Jurva
Balbir Singh
Helen Qian
Zhengyang Wang
Monica L. Jacobs
Kaltra Dhima
Dario J. Englot
Shawniqua Williams Roberson
Sarah K. Bick
Christos Constantinidis
author_facet August Jurva
Balbir Singh
Helen Qian
Zhengyang Wang
Monica L. Jacobs
Kaltra Dhima
Dario J. Englot
Shawniqua Williams Roberson
Sarah K. Bick
Christos Constantinidis
author_sort August Jurva
collection DOAJ
description Executive functions, including working memory, are typically assessed clinically with neuropsychological instruments. In contrast, computerized tasks are used to test these cognitive functions in laboratory human and animal studies. Little is known of how neural activity captured by laboratory tasks relates to ability measured by clinical instruments and, by extension, clinical diagnoses of pathological conditions. We therefore sought to determine what aspects of neural activity elicited in laboratory tasks are predictive of performance in neuropsychological instruments. We recorded neural activity from intracranial electrodes implanted in human epilepsy patients as they performed laboratory working memory tasks. These patients had completed neuropsychological instruments preoperatively, including the Weschler Adult Intelligent Scale and the Wisconsin Card Sorting test. Our results revealed that increased high-gamma (70–150 Hz) power in the prefrontal and parietal cortex after presentation of visual stimuli to be remembered was indicative of lower performance in the neuropsychological tasks. On the other hand, we observed a positive correlation between high-frequency power amplitude in the delay period of the laboratory tasks and neuropsychological performance. Our results demonstrate how neural activity around task events relates to executive function and may be associated with clinical diagnosis of specific cognitive deficits.
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spelling doaj-art-91f9ec0fc9914a128d65f29f0503743e2025-08-20T03:09:59ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-06-0131312124010.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121240Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memoryAugust Jurva0Balbir Singh1Helen Qian2Zhengyang Wang3Monica L. Jacobs4Kaltra Dhima5Dario J. Englot6Shawniqua Williams Roberson7Sarah K. Bick8Christos Constantinidis9Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USADepartment of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USAProgram in Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 3723515, USADepartment of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USADepartment of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA; Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA; Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA; Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USA; Corresponding authors.Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA; Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USA; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37212, USA; Corresponding authors.Executive functions, including working memory, are typically assessed clinically with neuropsychological instruments. In contrast, computerized tasks are used to test these cognitive functions in laboratory human and animal studies. Little is known of how neural activity captured by laboratory tasks relates to ability measured by clinical instruments and, by extension, clinical diagnoses of pathological conditions. We therefore sought to determine what aspects of neural activity elicited in laboratory tasks are predictive of performance in neuropsychological instruments. We recorded neural activity from intracranial electrodes implanted in human epilepsy patients as they performed laboratory working memory tasks. These patients had completed neuropsychological instruments preoperatively, including the Weschler Adult Intelligent Scale and the Wisconsin Card Sorting test. Our results revealed that increased high-gamma (70–150 Hz) power in the prefrontal and parietal cortex after presentation of visual stimuli to be remembered was indicative of lower performance in the neuropsychological tasks. On the other hand, we observed a positive correlation between high-frequency power amplitude in the delay period of the laboratory tasks and neuropsychological performance. Our results demonstrate how neural activity around task events relates to executive function and may be associated with clinical diagnosis of specific cognitive deficits.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002435Prefrontal cortexLocal field potentialStereo-EEGworking memory
spellingShingle August Jurva
Balbir Singh
Helen Qian
Zhengyang Wang
Monica L. Jacobs
Kaltra Dhima
Dario J. Englot
Shawniqua Williams Roberson
Sarah K. Bick
Christos Constantinidis
Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory
NeuroImage
Prefrontal cortex
Local field potential
Stereo-EEG
working memory
title Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory
title_full Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory
title_fullStr Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory
title_full_unstemmed Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory
title_short Increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory
title_sort increased frontoparietal activity related to lower performance in neuropsychological assessment of working memory
topic Prefrontal cortex
Local field potential
Stereo-EEG
working memory
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002435
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