Cognitive and connectome properties detectable through individual differences in graphomotor organization

Tools

Lamar, Melissa; Ajilore, Olusola; Leow, Alex; Charlton, Rebecca A; Cohen, Jamie; GadElkarim, Johnson; Yang, Shaolin; Zhang, Aifeng; Davis, Randall; Penney, Dana; Libon, David J and Kumar, Anand. 2016. Cognitive and connectome properties detectable through individual differences in graphomotor organization. Neuropsychologia, 85, pp. 301-309. ISSN 0028-3932 [Article]

Preview

Text
nihms-776191.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.
Download (859kB) | Preview

Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.03...

Abstract or Description

We investigated whether graphomotor organization during a digitized Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) would be associated with cognitive and/or brain structural differences detected with a tractography-derived structural connectome of the brain. 72 non-demented/non-depressed adults were categorized based on whether or not they used ‘anchor’ digits (i.e., 12, 3, 6, 9) before any other digits while completing dCDT instructions to “draw the face of a clock with all the numbers and set the hands to 10 after 11”. ‘Anchorers’ were compared to ‘non-anchorers’ across dCDT, additional cognitive measures and connectome-based metrics. In the context of grossly intact clock drawings, anchorers required fewer strokes to complete the dCDT and outperformed non-anchorers on executive functioning and learning/memory/recognition tasks. Anchorers had higher local efficiency for the left medial orbitofrontal and transverse temporal cortices as well as the right rostral anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus versus non-anchorers suggesting better regional integration within local networks involving these regions; select aspects of which correlated with cognition. Results also revealed that anchorers’ exhibited a higher degree of modular integration among heteromodal regions of the ventral visual processing stream versus non-anchorers. Thus, an easily observable graphomotor distinction was associated with 1) better performance in specific cognitive domains, 2) higher local efficiency suggesting better regional integration, and 3) more sophisticated modular integration involving the ventral (‘what’) visuospatial processing stream. Taken together, these results enhance our knowledge of the brain-behavior relationships underlying unprompted graphomotor organization during dCDT.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.03.034

Additional Information:

Funding for this study was provided by NIAK01-AG040192 (ML) and by NIMHR01-MH073989 (AK).

Keywords:

Executive functioning, Aging, Human connectome, Neural network, Clock drawing, Digital Clock drawing

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology

Dates: