Prefrontal cortical activation associated with prospective memory while walking around a real-world street environment.

ABSTRACT: Rostral PFC (area 10) activation is common during prospective memory (PM) tasks. But it is not clear what mental processes these activations index. Three candidate explanations from cognitive neuroscience theory are: (i) monitoring of the environment; (ii) spontaneous intention retrieval; (iii) a combination of the two. These explanations make different predictions about the temporal and spatial patterns of activation that would be seen in rostral PFC in naturalistic settings. Accordingly, we plotted functional events in PFC using portable fNIRS while people were carrying out a PM task outside the lab and responding to cues when they were encountered, to decide between these explanations. Nineteen people were asked to walk around a street in London, U.K. and perform various tasks while als

SUBMITTER: Burgess PW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10509823 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature