Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The role of prefrontal cortex in visuo-spatial planning: a repetitive TMS study

  • Research Note
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The visuo-spatial planning process is based on an “opportunistic” combination of heuristics and strategies, carried out in small units during the execution of plans. In order to investigate the functional role of the prefrontal cortex in heuristic switching, 42 healthy controls performed a labyrinth crossing task (the Maps Test). During this computerized version of the Travelling Salesperson Problem, subjects had to decide which order of locations optimizes total travel time and distance. This task was performed with and without 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which exerts an inhibitory action on the targeted area, applied during the task over bilateral frontal sites (active stimulation) and parieto-occipital site (sham stimulation). Only repetitive bilateral rTMS over F3 and F4 significantly decreased the number of strategies with changes of heuristics, and increased the number of movements required to solve the task. This behaviour contrasts with the performance of healthy subjects in the planning task, but is consistent with the performance of frontal traumatic brain injury patients. The results indicate that, in a visuo-spatial problem-solving task, the prefrontal cortex is involved in the switching between heuristics during the execution of a plan.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Basso D (2005) Involvement of the prefrontal cortex in visuo-spatial planning. PhD Thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”. Available at URL: http://www.padis.uniroma1.it/getfile.py?recid=334

  • Basso D, Bisiacchi PS, Cotelli M, Farinello C (2001) Planning times during travelling salesman’s problem: differences between closed head injury and normal subjects. Brain Cogn 46:38–42

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bisiacchi PS, Basso D, Cimolino S, Talamazzi M (2002) Gender differences in an environmental simulation. IAPS Bull People Environ Studies 21:1–3

    Google Scholar 

  • Boroojerdi B, Phipps M, Kopylev L, Wharton CM, Cohen LG, Grafman J (2001) Enhancing analogic reasoning with rTMS over the left prefrontal cortex. Neurology 56:526–528

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cadwallader M (1975) A behavioral model of consumer spatial decision making. Econ Geogr 51:339–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen R, Gerloff C, Classen J, Wassermann EM, Hallett M, Cohen LG (1997) Safety of different inter-train intervals for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and recommendations for safe ranges of stimulation parameters. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 105:415–421

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cisek P (2005) Neural representations of motor plans, desired trajectories, and controlled objects. Cogn Process 6:15–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen G (1989) Memory in the real world. Erlbaum, Hillsdale

    Google Scholar 

  • Dehaene S, Changeux JP (1992) The Wisconsin card sorting test: theoretical analysis and modeling in a neuronal network. Cereb Cortex 1:62–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald PB, Brown TL, Daskalakis ZJ, Chen R, Kulkarni J (2002) Intensity-dependent effects of 1 Hz rTMS on human corticospinal excitability. Clin Neurophysiol 113:1136–1141

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham SM, Joshi A, Pizlo Z (2000) The traveling salesman problem: A hierarchical model. Mem Cogn 28:1191–1204

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes-Roth B, Hayes-Roth F (1979) A cognitive model of planning. Cogn Sci 3:275–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirtle S, Gärling T (1992) Heuristic rules for sequential spatial decisions. Geoforum 23:227–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karim AA, Kammer T, Lotze M, Hinterberger T, Godde B, Cohen L, Birbaumer N (2003). Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on slow cortical potentials (SCP). Suppl Clin Neurophysiol 56:331–337

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koechlin E, Ody C, Kouneiher F (2003) The architecture of cognitive control in the human prefrontal cortex. Science 302(5648):1181–1185

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leocani L, Cohen LG, Wassermann EM, Ikoma K, Hallett M (2000) Human corticospinal excitability evaluated with transcranial magnetic stimulation during different reaction time paradigms. Brain 123:1161–1173

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacGregor JN, Chronicle EP, Ormerod TC (2004). Convex-hull or crossing-avoidance? Solution heuristics in the traveling salesperson problem. Mem Cogn 32:260–270

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeefry DJ, Watson JD, Frackowiak RS, Fong K, Zeki S (1997) The activity in human areas V1/V2, V3, and V5 during the perception of coherent and incoherent motion. Neuroimage 5(1):1–12

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller EK, Cohen JD (2001) An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annu Rev Neurosci 24:167–202

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morris RG, Ahmed S, Syed GM, Toone BK (1993) Neural correlates of planning ability: frontal lobe activation during the Tower of London test. Neuropsychologia 31(12):1367–1378

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips LH, Wynn VE, McPherson S, Gilhooly KJ (2001) Mental planning and the Tower of London task. Q J Exp Psychol A 54:579–598

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rossi S, Pasqualetti P, Rossini PM, Feige B, Ulivelli M, Glocker FX, Battistini N, Lucking CH, Kristeva-Feige R (2000) Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on movement-related cortical activity in humans. Cereb Cortex 10(8):802–808

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rossini PM, Barker AT, Berardelli A, Caramia MD, Caruso G, Cracco RQ, Dimitrijevic MR, Hallett M, Katayama Y, Lucking CH, Maertens De Noodhout AL, Marsden CD, Murray NMF, Rothwell JC, Swash M, Tomberg C (1994) Non-invasive electrical and magnetic stimulation of the brain, spinal cord and roots: basic principles and procedures for routine clinical application. Report of an IFCN committee. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 91:79–92

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shallice T (1988) From neuropsychology to mental structure. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Shallice T, Burgess P (1991) Deficits in strategy application following frontal lobe damage in man. Brain 114:727–741

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenberghe R, Price C, Wise R, Josephs O, Frackowiak RS (1996) Functional anatomy of a common semantic system for words and pictures. Nature 383(6597):254–256

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman EM (1998) Risk and safety in repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol 108:1–16

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ralf Veit, Rita Fini, Angela Tagini, and three anonymous reviewers which have improved our work considerably. This work was partially supported by a Socrates–Erasmus Grant promoted by M.O.B.; D.B and P.S.B. are supported by the Italian PRIN2003; M.L. and N.B. are supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ECONA, Interuniversity Center for Research on Cognitive Processing in Natural and Artificial Systems, Via dei Marsi, 78, Stanza 16, 2 Piano, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Demis Basso & Marta Olivetti Belardinelli

  2. Institut für Medizinische Psychologie und Verhaltensneurobiologie, Tübingen, Germany

    Martin Lotze & Niels Birbaumer

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Lavinia Vitale & Marta Olivetti Belardinelli

  4. Neurology, University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy

    Florinda Ferreri & Paolo Maria Rossini

  5. Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Patrizia Bisiacchi

  6. IRCCS Centro S. Giovanni di Dio-Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy

    Paolo Maria Rossini

Authors
  1. Demis Basso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Martin Lotze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lavinia Vitale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Florinda Ferreri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Patrizia Bisiacchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Marta Olivetti Belardinelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Paolo Maria Rossini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Niels Birbaumer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Demis Basso.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Basso, D., Lotze, M., Vitale, L. et al. The role of prefrontal cortex in visuo-spatial planning: a repetitive TMS study. Exp Brain Res 171, 411–415 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0457-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0457-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation