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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on June 24, 2004
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhh100
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
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Article

When Planning Fails: Individual Differences and Error-related Brain Activity in Problem Solving

J.M. Unterrainer 1*, B. Rahm 1, C.P. Kaller 1, C.C. Ruff 2, J. Spreer 3, B.J. Krause 4, R. Schwarzwald 3, H. Hautzel 5, U. Halsband 1

1 Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Germany
2 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK
3 Department of Neuroradiology, University of Freiburg, Germany
4 Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Ulm, Germany
5 Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: josef.unterrainer{at}psychologie.uni-freiburg.de.


  Abstract

The neuronal processes underlying correct and erroneous problem solving were studied in strong and weak problem-solvers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During planning, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was activated, and showed a linear relationship with the participants' performance level. A similar pattern emerged in right inferior parietal regions for all trials, and in anterior cingulate cortex for erroneously solved trials only. In the performance phase, when the pre-planned moves had to be executed by means of an fMRI-compatible computer mouse, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was again activated jointly with right parahippocampal cortex, and displayed a similar positive relationship with the participants' performance level. Incorrectly solved problems elicited stronger bilateral prefrontal and left inferior parietal activations than correctly solved trials. For both individual ability and trial-specific performance, our results thus demonstrate the crucial involvement of right prefrontal cortex in efficient visuospatial planning.

Keywords: individual performance; neuroimaging; planning; problem solving; Tower of London; trial correctness.
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