Schedule of Events | Symposia

How You Rest May Determine Your Best: Prefrontal Cortex Resting State Activity as a Predictor of Problem-Solving Ability

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Siena DeAngelo¹ (siena.deangelo@bruins.belmont.edu), Baie Ensio¹, Emily Stripling¹, Cristina Posada¹, Carole Scherling, PhD¹; ¹Belmont University

Problem-solving tasks have been widely used in executive functioning research to investigate prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity. Anagram tasks serve as excellent models of verbal problem-solving (Murray, 2022), with previous literature showing increased centro-parietal, fronto-parietal, temporal, and PFC activity (Reineberg, 2018). Additionally, previous work shows a left hemispheric lateralization correlation with efficient problem-solving (Sinitsyn, 2020). The current study uniquely uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to probe PFC resting-state activity and brain laterality as a predictor of problem-solving performance. Thirty-eight undergraduates [23 F, mean age (SD)= 20.2 (1.4)] completed 8-minute resting state sessions (eyes-open and -closed; 8x8 PFC montage). Subsequently, they solved 10 anagram puzzles, categorized as either easy or difficult, and outcome measures of reaction time and number of attempts were extracted. Behavioral outcomes revealed slower reaction times in seconds for difficult [mean(SD)=93.2 (40)] vs easy trials [mean(SD)= 11.3 (18)] and more attempts for difficult [mean(SD)= 3.2 (1.4)] vs easy trials [mean(SD)= 1.6 (1.4)]. We hypothesized that fNIRS would reveal similar brain-laterality findings, with higher left resting-state activity correlating with overall better anagram problem-solving, particularly for difficult items. However, results revealed reversed brain-laterality effects, with higher right resting-state activity associated with more attempts on difficult anagram puzzles (rs (35)= 0.331, p= 0.030). Overall, findings illustrate that fNIRS can measure PFC resting-state activity and potential brain lateralization. Furthermore, hemispheric lateralization and resting-state activity may modulate problem-solving task performances. Higher right involvement in association with verbal problem-solving is novel and warrants further investigation in other imaging modalities like fMRI for confirmation.

Topic Area: THINKING: Problem solving