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Abstract:
This study examined the specific contributions of multiple
brain regions participating in the learning of paired associates
from disparate content areas. fMRI data was collected on a 1.5
Tesla GE Signa magnet with spiral imaging. Regions of interest were
identified through a comparison of functional activation produced
during blocks of unlearned (less than 3 minutes of training) and
well-practiced (1.5 hours of training) paired associates of three
types: location-number, face-color, and pseudoword-word. In each of
these tasks, subjects were initially presented with the correct
cue-response pair, and were later required to produce the correct
response given only the cue. The comparison of unlearned to
well-practiced blocks across tasks revealed a common learning
network that included the anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral
inferior frontal gyri, R. anterior frontal sulcus, and L.
intra-parietal sulcus. The identification of this set of candidate
regions allowed further probing of the specific involvement of
these areas in aspects of the learning process including: memory
modification, verbal mediation, feedback processing, motivation,
and attention. The examination of functional specialization was
achieved by manipulating various components (e.g. feedback) of the
paired associate tasks. The findings indicate that there is a
network of distributed brain regions that support specific
components of learning, and whose activity is independent of the
particular content domain of the learning task.
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