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Dissociable attentional and inhibitory networks of dorsal and ventral areas of the right inferior frontal cortex: a combined task-specific and coordinate-based meta-analytic fMRI study

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Abstract

The right inferior frontal cortex (rIFC) is frequently activated during executive control tasks. Whereas the function of the dorsal portion of rIFC, more precisely the inferior frontal junction (rIFJ), is convergingly assigned to the attention system, the functional key role of the ventral portion, i.e., the inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), is hitherto controversially debated. Here, we used a two-step methodical approach to clarify the differential function of rIFJ and rIFG. First, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a modified stop signal task with an attentional capture condition (acSST) to delineate attentional from inhibitory motor processes (step 1). Then, we applied coordinate-based meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) to assess functional connectivity profiles of rIFJ and rIFG across various paradigm classes (step 2). As hypothesized, rIFJ activity was associated with the detection of salient stimuli, and was functionally connected to areas of the ventral and dorsal attention network. RIFG was activated during successful response inhibition even when controlling for attentional capture and revealed the highest functional connectivity with core motor areas. Thereby, rIFJ and rIFG delineated largely independent brain networks for attention and motor control. MACM results attributed a more specific attentional function to rIFJ, suggesting an integrative role between stimulus-driven ventral and goal-directed dorsal attention processes. In contrast, rIFG was disclosed as a region of the motor control but not attention system, being essential for response inhibition. The current study provides decisive evidence regarding a more precise functional characterization of rIFC subregions in attention and inhibition.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by internal grants of the MAIFOR program and the research focus translational neurosciences (FTN) of the Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center Mainz, Germany. Comprehensive access to the BrainMap database was authorized by a collaborative-use license agreement, provided to Simon Eickhoff by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. BrainMap is supported by NIH/NIMH R01 MH074457. Findings presented in this study are part of the doctoral thesis of Jonathan Neuhoff.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center Mainz, Untere Zahlbacher Str. 8, 55131, Mainz, Germany

      Alexandra Sebastian, Patrick Jung, Jonathan Neuhoff, Klaus Lieb, Oliver Tüscher & Arian Mobascher

    2. Brain Imaging Center, MEG Unit, Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

      Michael Wibral

    3. Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, USA

      Peter T. Fox

    4. South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, USA

      Peter T. Fox

    5. Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

      Pascal Fries

    6. Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

      Simon B. Eickhoff

    7. Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany

      Simon B. Eickhoff

    8. Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Albert-Ludwigs-University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

      Oliver Tüscher

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    1. Alexandra Sebastian
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    Correspondence to Patrick Jung.

    Additional information

    A. Sebastian, P. Jung, O. Tüscher, A. Mobascher have contributed equally.

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    Sebastian, A., Jung, P., Neuhoff, J. et al. Dissociable attentional and inhibitory networks of dorsal and ventral areas of the right inferior frontal cortex: a combined task-specific and coordinate-based meta-analytic fMRI study. Brain Struct Funct 221, 1635–1651 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-0994-y

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