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superior parietal cortex

a region in the upper part of the parietal lobe.

Superior Parietal Cortex

Parietal Lobe

Inferior Parietal Lobule

Intraparietal Sulcus

Fronto-parietal Network

Posterior Parietal Cortex

Precuneus

Somatosensory Cortex

Superior Parietal Cortex

 

Older news items (pre-2010) brought over from the old website

September 2008

From 12 years onward you learn differently

Behavioral studies have found eight-year-olds learn primarily from positive feedback, with negative feedback having little effect. Twelve-year-olds, however, are better able to process negative feedback, and use it to learn from their mistakes. Now brain imaging reveals that the brain regions responsible for cognitive control (specifically, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and superior parietal cortex, and the pre-supplementary motor area/anterior cingulate cortex) react strongly to positive feedback and scarcely respond at all to negative feedback in children of eight and nine, but the opposite is the case in children of 11 to 13 years, and also in adults.

van Duijvenvoorde, A.C.K. et al. 2008. Evaluating the Negative or Valuing the Positive? Neural Mechanisms Supporting Feedback-Based Learning across Development. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 9495-9503.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/lu-f1y092508.php
http://www.physorg.com/news141554842.html

February 2004

Exercise improves attention and decision-making among seniors

An imaging study involving adults ranging in age from 58 to 78 before and after a six-month program of aerobic exercise, found specific functional differences in the middle-frontal and superior parietal regions of the brain that changed with improved aerobic fitness. Consistent with the functions of these brain regions, those who participated in the aerobic-exercise intervention significantly improved their performance on a computer-based decision-making task. Those doing toning and stretching exercises did increase activation in some areas of the brain but not in those tied to better performance. Their performance on the task was not significantly different after the exercise program. The aerobic exercise used in the study involved gradually increasing periods of walking over three months. For the final three months of the intervention program, each subject walked briskly for 45 minutes in three sessions each week.

Elavsky, S., Colcombe, S. J., Kramer, A. F., Erickson, K. I., Scalf, P., McAuley, E., … Marquez, D. X. (2004). Cardiovascular fitness, cortical plasticity, and aging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101(9), 3316-3321. Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/101/9/3316.abstract

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/uoia-esf021104.php

January 2004

Training improves working memory capacity

Working memory capacity has traditionally been thought to be constant. Recent studies, however, suggest that working memory can be improved by training. In this recent imaging study, it was found that adults who practiced working memory tasks for 5 weeks showed increased brain activity in the middle frontal gyrus and superior and inferior parietal cortices. These changes could be evidence of training-induced plasticity in the neural systems that underlie working memory.

Olesen, P.J., Westerberg, H. & Klingberg, T. 2004. Increased prefrontal and parietal activity after training of working memory. Nature Neuroscience, 7(1), 75-9.

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/neuro/journal/v7/n1/abs/nn1165.html

How yoga changes the brain

Submitted by Fiona McPherson on

Brain scans have revealed that those who regularly practiced yoga had larger brain volume in the somatosensory cortex (maps the body), superior parietal cortex (involved in directing attention), visual cortex (perhaps because of visualization techniques), hippocampus, precuneus and the posterior cingulate cortex (the last two involved in our concept of self).

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-yoga-changes-the-brain/

Brain atrophy may predict risk for early Alzheimer's disease

A study involving 159 older adults (average age 76) has confirmed that the amount of brain tissue in specific regions is a predictor of Alzheimer’s disease development. Of the 159 people, 19 were classified as at high risk on the basis of the smaller size of nine small regions previously shown to be vulnerable to Alzheimer's), and 24 as low risk. The regions, in order of importance, are the medial temporal, inferior temporal, temporal pole, angular gyrus, superior parietal, superior frontal, inferior frontal cortex, supramarginal gyrus, precuneus.

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