RUI: fMRI Investigation of the Role of Motor Processes in Mental Rotation

Smith College, Northampton MA

Investigators

Abstract

Mental rotation enables one to participate in a variety of spatial reasoning tasks, from solving geometry problems to reading maps to learning how to dance. Much of the empirical work in the field has focused on mental rotation of objects. However, within the last few decades, researchers have begun to examine other classes of mental rotation, including mental rotation of body parts and of one's own body. Researchers also have begun using neuroimaging techniques to explore whether these different mental transformations are subserved by unique neural mechanisms. One contentious finding within the cognitive neuroscience literature is that some classes of mental rotation have been shown to activate frontal motor areas of the brain, while others have not. For example, researchers have found primary motor cortex and premotor activation in some imagined object rotation tasks, presumably because such tasks allow people to anticipate what they would see if they had manipulated a physical object. In contrast, the task of mental rotation of one's body has been shown to elicit no activation in frontal motor areas, despite its explicit link to body movement. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Maryjane Wraga's research focuses on this question this by examining the role of motor processing within a wider range of mental rotation tasks than previously has been studied. The research will be conducted using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which will allow for direct comparisons of specific brain regions of interest across experimental conditions. The broader impacts of this project are to provide opportunities for undergraduate women at Smith College to become involved in the field of cognitive neuroscience. Students will gain hands-on experience in every aspect of fMRI experimentation, from designing and programming studies, to running participants in the fMRI scanner, to analyzing and interpreting results. Such opportunities will facilitate participation of an underrepresented group, women, within the field of cognitive neuroscience.