Table 2.
Clusters of brain regions that were significantly activated during 1-back vs. 0-back, 2-back vs. 0-back, and 3-back vs. 0-back contrasts with increasing task difficulty in a within group analysis (one-sample t-tests, p < 0.001, uncorrected).
| Image contrast | Brain region | Side | Peak MNI coordinates (x y z) | Cluster extent | T-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-back vs. 0-back (activation clusters) | Inferior parietal gyrus (IPG) | L | − 48 − 42 54 | 546 | 11.29 |
| Supplementary motor area (SMA) | L | − 6 10 54 | 290 | 11.05 | |
| Supplementary motor area (SMA) | R | 4 18 50 | 8.50 | ||
| Insula (INS) | R | 32 16 6 | 91 | 9.87 | |
| Inferior parietal gyrus (IPG) | R | 40 − 50 52 | 475 | 8.20 | |
| SupraMarginal gyrus (SMG) | R | 44 − 36 44 | 7.61 | ||
| Cerebellum_8 (CER8) | L | − 34 − 62 − 46 | 35 | 7.80 | |
| Cerebellum_7b (CER7b) | L | − 24 − 68 − 44 | 5.99 | ||
| Precentral gyrus (PreCG) | R | 34 0 48 | 101 | 7.71 | |
| Superior frontal gyrus-dorsolateral (SFG) | R | 28 10 54 | 6.25 | ||
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | R | 34 52 16 | 54 | 7.50 | |
| 2-back vs. 0-back (activation clusters) | Inferior parietal gyrus (IPG) | L | − 38 − 44 40 | 1358 | 14.15 |
| Precuneus (PCUN) | L | − 10 − 68 54 | 9.79 | ||
| Inferior parietal gyrus (IPG) | R | 40 − 42 52 | 1629 | 12.79 | |
| Superior parietal gyrus (SPG) | R | 16 − 60 58 | 10.85 | ||
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | L | − 26 − 2 56 | 248 | 11.84 | |
| Precentral gyrus (PreCG) | L | − 34 0 58 | 9.33 | ||
| Superior frontal gyrus-dorsolateral (SFG) | L | − 22 0 48 | 8.08 | ||
| Insula (INS) | L | − 28 22 4 | 145 | 11.00 | |
| Inferior frontal gyrus-triangular part (IFGtriang) | L | − 40 28 24 | 687 | 9.52 | |
| Precentral gyrus (PreCG) | L | − 54 8 36 | 8.74 | ||
| Cerebellum_6 (CER6) | L | − 26 − 66 − 26 | 175 | 9.43 | |
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | R | 42 38 16 | 330 | 9.28 | |
| Cerebellum_6 (CER6) | R | 30 − 60 − 26 | 174 | 9.25 | |
| Supplementary motor area (SMA) | R | 6 16 50 | 567 | 9.09 | |
| Supplementary motor area (SMA) | L | − 6 10 52 | 8.88 | ||
| Putamen (PUT) | R | 30 18 2 | 172 | 8.78 | |
| Insula (INS) | R | 36 28 0 | 5.37 | ||
| Cerebellum_8 (CER8) | L | − 36 − 58 − 46 | 60 | 8.72 | |
| Cerebellum_7b (CER7b) | L | − 32 − 68 − 48 | 6.20 | ||
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | R | 30 12 50 | 316 | 7.05 | |
| Precentral gyrus (PreCG) | R | 54 6 42 | 99 | 5.73 | |
| Inferior frontal gyrus-opercular part (IFGoperc) | R | 44 6 26 | 5.27 | ||
| 3-back vs. 0-back (activation clusters) | Cerebellum_6 (CER6) | L | − 28 − 64 − 30 | 360 | 16.84 |
| Inferior parietal gyrus (IPG) | R | 48 − 36 50 | 1801 | 16.30 | |
| Cerebellum_8 (CER8) | L | − 34 − 62 − 46 | 152 | 14.17 | |
| Inferior parietal gyrus (IPG) | L | − 40 − 42 42 | 1683 | 13.90 | |
| Middle occipital gyrus (MOG) | L | − 26 − 76 34 | 11.95 | ||
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | L | − 26 0 56 | 1266 | 13.09 | |
| Supplementary motor area (SMA) | L | − 4 10 52 | 12.58 | ||
| Supplementary motor area (SMA) | R | 8 8 62 | 9.55 | ||
| Inferior frontal gyrus-triangular part (IFGtriang) | L | − 40 28 24 | 1031 | 11.92 | |
| Inferior frontal gyrus-opercular part (IFGoperc) | L | − 44 12 18 | 9.66 | ||
| Cerebellum_Crus1 (CERCRU1) | L | − 8 − 76 − 22 | 49 | 10.91 | |
| Insula (INS) | L | − 34 18 2 | 221 | 10.65 | |
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | R | 26 12 50 | 454 | 9.82 | |
| Superior frontal gyrus-dorsolateral (SFG) | R | 24 12 60 | 9.22 | ||
| Inferior frontal gyrus-triangular part (IFGtriang) | R | 46 30 28 | 655 | 8.79 | |
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | R | 44 44 28 | 8.12 | ||
| Cerebellum_6 (CER6) | R | 30 − 62 − 30 | 291 | 8.37 | |
| Middle frontal gyrus (MFG) | L | − 34 50 6 | 233 | 8.13 | |
| Inferior frontal gyrus-opercular part (IFGoperc) | R | 44 6 24 | 184 | 8.12 | |
| Cerebellum_8 (CER8) | R | 30 − 70 − 52 | 43 | 7.18 | |
| Cerebellum_7b (CER7b) | R | 22 − 74 − 46 | 5.43 | ||
| Pallidum_L | L | − 16 2 6 | 71 | 6.73 |
MNI Montreal Neurological Institute, L left, R right.
Significant brain activations were reported at the cluster level.