My experience in brain cognitive research for summer minority high school students

Ron Hu, M.D.Johnson Foundation Summer Research Program ‘01

Summer 2001

Summer Program

Summer Program

Picture

The Knot Tying Experiment

Tests how brain engages in motor learning

Subjects learn two sailor’s knots

Brain oxygenation and performance data gathered

BowlineClove hitch

Hypotheses

1.The prefrontal cortex is involved in learning motor function2.An imagery period will enhance the performance of subjects3.Repetition learning in the subjects will subsequently decrease brain activation.

Methods

18 subjects randomly split into two groups

Exp group asked to imagine tying knot before trial

Control group had rest period before trial

Each subject tested 4 times with at least one day between each test

Performance was compared

Baseline

Video Gap Trial Period

Baseline

Video Imagery

Trial Period

Control

Experimental

Oxygenation Prefrontal cortex

-0.06

-0.04

-0.02

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

Video Imagery Trial

Change in oxygenation from baseline

Pre-frontal cortex activation was associated with imagining and actual knot-tying

Best Performer

420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

Sample Point

D4

Baseline Video Imagery Trial

Worst performer

900 920 940 960 980 1000 1020

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

Sample Point

D12

Baseline Video Imagery Trial

Performance

Stage 2: Non-Imagery Clove H.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4

Test

Stage 2: Imagery Clove H.

012

3456

78

1 2 3 4

Test

Imagery period did not improve performance in our subjects

Repetition learning

Day1 vs Day4 Clove H.

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

Imagery Trial

Day 1

Day 4

Learning did occur as subjects gained experience in tying the knots, and the overall activation decreased

Since Summer Program

The future

Thank you!Prefrontal Cortex