NeuroCognitive Bases of Tool Use

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

fRMI: The measurements performed will be the participant's brain activity, as well as behavioral measurements associated with the tasks performed (response time, correctness of the response). Brain activity measurements will be performed on the Siemens 3T system of the MRI department of CERMEP. The subject will perform the task under study while the level of brain activity is recorded. The functional examination will be subdivided into several parts according to its total length in order to spare the subject. The total duration of MRI acquisitions will be approximately 1 hour regardless of the axis.

Study summary

Tool use is considered to be the hallmark of complex cognitive adaptations that humans have achieved trough evolution, that provides an adaptive advantage to the human species. Even if nonhuman species do use tools too, human tool use is much more complex and sophisticated. If humans have special abilities for tool use, it has to be grounded in a specific neuroanatomical substrate. Humans and nonhumans share a similar prehension system located within the superior parietal lobe and the intraparietal sulcus. However, there is a human specificity: the supramarginal gyrus within the left inferior parietal lobe is unique to humans, and could play a central role in tool use. This project aims to study the neurocognitive bases of human tool use with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), to precise the cognitive mechanisms through which humans are able to use tools.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent measure — 1 hour
  The primary outcome measure will be the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent measure (BOLD) as permitted with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.This BOLD level will be collected for every voxel in the imaged brain, and at regular time intervals (TR = 3s) during the experimental session (about one hour). This is standard procedure for fMRI experiments. FMRI measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area of the brain is in use, blood flow to that region also increases. The primary form of fMRI uses the BOLD contrast in response to an experimental condition (Ogawa, Lee, Kay, \& Tank, 1990), allowing researchers to track changes in oxygen consumption on the brain and therefore brain activity. BOLD effefct is computed by assessing the different relaxation times (T1 and T2) in the brain, as T1 and T2 are different in function of regional cerebral blood flows

Trial sites (1)

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