Critical thinking and regional gray matter volume interact to predict representation connection in scientific problem solving

Creative problem solving in knowledge-rich contexts

Creative problem solving (CPS) in real-world contexts often relies on reorganization of existing knowledge to serve new, problem-relevant functions. However, classic creativity paradigms that minimize knowledge content are generally used to investigate creativity, including CPS. We argue that CPS research should expand consideration of knowledge-rich problem contexts, both in novices and experts within specific domains. In particular, paradigms focusing on creative analogical transfer of knowledge may reflect CPS skills that are applicable to real-world problem solving. Such paradigms have begun to provide process-level insights into cognitive and neural characteristics of knowledge-rich CPS and point to multiple avenues for fruitfully expanding inquiry into the role of crystalized knowledge in creativity.

Structural and Functional Deficits in Patients with Poststroke Dementia: A Multimodal MRI Study

Although many neuroimaging studies have reported structural and functional abnormalities in the brains of patients with cognitive impairments following stroke, little is known about the pattern of such brain reorganization in poststroke dementia (PSD). The present study was aimed at investigating alterations in spontaneous brain activity and gray matter volume (GMV) in PSD patients. We collected T1-weighted and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 20 PSD patients, 24 poststroke nondementia (PSND) patients, and 21 well-matched normal controls (NCs). We compared the differences among the groups in GMV and the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF). Then, we evaluated the relationship between these brain measures and cognitive assessments and explored the possible distinguisher for PSD by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. PSD patients showed smaller GMV in the right superior temporal gyrus and lower fALFF values in the right inferior frontal gyrus than both PSND patients and NCs, but such differences were not observed between PSND patients and NCs. Moreover, GMV in the left medial prefrontal cortex showed a significant positive correlation with the Mini-Cog assessment in PSD patients, and GMV in the left CPL displayed the highest area under the ROC curve among all the features for classifying PSD versus PSND patients. Our findings suggest that PSD patients show dementia-specific structural and functional alteration patterns, which may help elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying PSD.

Gray Matter Alterations in Parkinson's Disease With Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Voxel-Based Morphometry Studies

Background: Gray matter (GM) alterations in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) have been demonstrated in many neuroimaging studies using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). However, the inconsistent findings between studies cannot be applied to clinical practice as a neuroimaging biomarker. We performed a meta-analysis of VBM studies at a whole-brain level to investigate GM differences between PD patients with and without RBD. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science from inception to November 2019 to identify eligible VBM studies. We adopted the latest Seed-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images technique to quantitatively estimate the difference of regional GM volume between PD patients with and without RBD. Results: We included five studies comprising 105 PD patients with RBD and 140 PD patients without RBD. The pooled meta-analysis revealed that PD patients with RBD showed a significant reduction of GM volume in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) compared with those without RBD. This result was confirmed to be robust by the jackknife sensitivity analysis. Conclusion: Our finding shows significantly and robustly reduced GM volume in the right STG in PD patients with RBD, preliminarily suggesting the association of GM atrophy in this brain region with the occurrence of RBD in PD patients.