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01-01-2017 | Short Communication

Sustained enhancements in inhibitory control depend primarily on the reinforcement of fronto-basal anatomical connectivity

Authors: Camille Chavan, Michael Mouthon, Marie Simonet, Henri-Marcel Hoogewoud, Bogdan Draganski, Wietske van der Zwaag, Lucas Spierer

Published in: Brain Structure and Function | Issue 1/2017

Abstract

What are the neurophysiological determinants of sustained supra-normal inhibitory control performance? We addressed this question by coupling multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral investigations of experts in fencing who underwent more than 20,000 h of inhibitory control training over 15 years. The superior control of the experts manifested behaviorally as a speeding-up of inhibition processes during a Go/NoGo task and was accompanied by changes in bilateral inferior frontal white matter microstructure. In the expert group, inhibition performance correlated positively with the fractional anisotropy (FA) of white matter tracts projecting to the basal ganglia, and the total training load with the FA in supplementary motor areas. Critically, the experts showed no changes in grey matter volume or in the functional organization of the fronto-basal inhibitory control network. The fencers’ performance and neural activity during a 2-back working memory task did not differ from those of the controls, ensuring that their expertise was specific to inhibitory control. Our results indicate that while phasic changes in the patterns of neural activity and grey matter architecture accompany inhibitory control improvement after short- to medium- term training, long-lasting inhibitory control improvements primarily depend on the reinforcement of fronto-basal structural connectivity.

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Title: Sustained enhancements in inhibitory control depend primarily on the reinforcement of fronto-basal anatomical connectivity
Authors: Camille Chavan
Michael Mouthon
Marie Simonet
Henri-Marcel Hoogewoud
Bogdan Draganski
Wietske van der Zwaag
Lucas Spierer
Publication date: 01-01-2017
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Brain Structure and Function / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 1863-2653
Electronic ISSN: 1863-2661
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-1156-y

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Sustained enhancements in inhibitory control depend primarily on the reinforcement of fronto-basal anatomical connectivity

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

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Abstract

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