{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Temporal-spatial deciphering mental subtraction in the human brain.
{Author}: Pan NC;Zhao C;Du J;Zhou Q;Xu C;Liu C;Yu T;Zhang D;Wang Y;
{Journal}: Cogn Neurodyn
{Volume}: 18
{Issue}: 3
{Year}: 2024 Jun
{Factor}: 3.473
{DOI}: 10.1007/s11571-023-09937-z
{Abstract}: Mental subtraction, involving numerical processing and operation, requires a complex interplay among several brain regions. Diverse studies have utilized scalp electroencephalograph, electrocorticogram, or functional magnetic resonance imaging to resolve the structure pattern and functional activity during subtraction operation. However, a high resolution of the spatial-temporal understanding of the neural mechanisms involved in mental subtraction is unavailable. Thus, this study obtained intracranial stereoelectroencephalography recordings from 20 patients with pharmacologically resistant epilepsy. Specifically, two sample-delayed mismatch paradigms of numeric comparison and subtracting results comparison were used to help reveal the time frame of mental subtraction. The brain sub-regions were chronologically screened using the stereoelectroencephalography recording for mental subtraction. The results indicated that the anterior cortex, containing the frontal, insular, and parahippocampous, worked for preparing for mental subtraction; moreover, the posterior cortex, such as parietal, occipital, limbic, and temporal regions, cooperated during subtraction. Especially, the gamma band activities in core regions within the parietal-cingulate-temporal cortices mediated the critical mental subtraction. Overall, this research is the first to describe the spatiotemporal activities underlying mental subtraction in the human brain. It provides a comprehensive insight into the cognitive control activity underlying mental arithmetic.
UNASSIGNED: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-023-09937-z.