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A Characterization of Brain Area Activation in Orienteers with Different Map-Recognition Memory Ability Task Levels-Based on fNIRS Evidence - PubMed

  • ️Sat Jan 01 2022

A Characterization of Brain Area Activation in Orienteers with Different Map-Recognition Memory Ability Task Levels-Based on fNIRS Evidence

Yang Liu et al. Brain Sci. 2022.

Abstract

Background: Mapping memory ability is highly correlated with an orienteer's level, and spatial memory tasks of different difficulties can reveal the spatial cognitive characteristics of high-level athletes.

Methods: An "expert-novice" experimental paradigm was used to monitor behavioral performance and changes in cerebral blood oxygen concentration in orienteering athletes with tasks of different difficulty and cognitive load using functional near-infrared spectroscopic imaging (fNIRS).

Results: (1) there was no difference between high-/low-level athletes' map recognition and memory abilities in the non-orienteering scenario; (2) with increasing task difficulty, both high-/low-level athletes showed significantly decreasing behavioral performance, reduced correctness, longer reaction time, and strengthened cerebral blood oxygen activation concentration. There was no significant difference in L-DLPFC cerebral oxygen concentration between high-/low-level athletes in the simple map task, and the cerebral oxygen concentration in all brain regions was lower in the expert group than in the novice group in the rest of the task difficulty levels; (3) the correctness rate in the expert group in the complex task was closely related to the activation of the right hemisphere (R-DLPFC, R-VLPFC).

Conclusions: Experts have a specific cognitive advantage in map-recognition memory, showing higher task performance and lower cerebral blood oxygen activation; cognitive load constrains map-recognition memory-specific ability and produces different performance effects and brain activation changes on spatial memory processing.

Keywords: functional near-infrared spectroscopy; map recognition; orienteering; prefrontal lobe (PFC).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

Specialized scene experiment materials. (a) Description of simple maps; this type of map contains mainly towns and parks as the field and the symbols of the types of features are mostly simple landforms and man-made features. (b) Description of complex maps; this type of map contains mainly mountain scenes in the field, and the map is mostly symbols of landforms.

Figure 2
Figure 2

Portable fNIRS device wearing and channel layout. The yellow numbers on the left represent the corresponding detection positions of the photopolar cap in the prefrontal cortical area, the red squares on the right indicate the emitter (light source), the blue squares indicate the detector (probe), and the black numbers indicate the established channels.

Figure 3
Figure 3

Experimental flow chart of the spatial working memory task in non-orienteering scenarios. 1. the guidance instructions before the start of the experiment, press “space” end; 2. according to the screen prompts for non-directional scenes experimental year: the location of the flash set in order of memory (3 flash points); 3. according to the memory click the corresponding luminous point position; 4. screen prompts for non-directional scenes experimental year: memorize the location of the flashing set in order (4 flashing points).

Figure 4
Figure 4

Experimental flow chart of the spatial working memory task in orienteering scenarios.

Figure 5
Figure 5

Results of fNIRS for the map-recognition spatial memory task; (a) L-VLPFC; (b) L-DLPFC; (c) R-VLPFC; (d) R-DLPFC. ** represents 0.001 < p < 0.01.

Figure 5
Figure 5

Results of fNIRS for the map-recognition spatial memory task; (a) L-VLPFC; (b) L-DLPFC; (c) R-VLPFC; (d) R-DLPFC. ** represents 0.001 < p < 0.01.

Figure 6
Figure 6

Results of fNIRS for the map-recognition spatial memory task. This figure depicts the activation level of brain regions at different maps (task difficulty) for the expert and novice groups. The more the colors are skewed toward warm colors (orange, red) the higher the activation level of the region, and the more the colors are skewed toward cool colors (blue, green) the lower the activation level of the region. Numbers represent different brain channels (a) Expert group simple map; (b) novice group simple map; (c) expert group complex map; (d) novice group complex map. The colored boxes from left to right in the picture represent different brain regions, yellow: L-VLPFC; red: L-DLPFC; grass green: R-DLPFC; olive green: R-VLPFC.

Figure 7
Figure 7

Correlation between Oxy-Hb concentration in the region of interest and the correctness rate (Note: * represents 0.01 < p < 0.05, ** represents p < 0.01). (a) Novice group simple map; (b) novice group complex map; (c) expert group simple map; (d) expert group complex map.

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