Identifying Cognitive Processes and Neural Substrates of Spatial Transformation in a Mental Folding Task with Cognitive Modeling
Abstract
The cognitive processes underlying mental folding have been investigated for decades, while the neural correlates associated with this spatial transformation are barely understood. This study combines cognitive modeling with EEG recordings from 41 subjects to investigate the general mechanisms of mental spatial transformation. By linking model-based simulation and electrocortical activity, we identified brain areas involved during mental folding. Our novel approach showed active central parietal and left parietal, as well as occipital areas during spatial storage, while the right parietal cortex was associated with spatial transformation. The left occipital and parietal regions were active especially during visual baseline trials, while the right parietal region exhibited stronger activity for more difficult folding trials, replicating previous results. The varying activation patterns imply different cognitive loads for storage and for transformation depending on task difficulty.