Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24568942›Full record

SynthesisNeuroscience and biobehavioral reviews2014

Prefrontal cortex and executive functions in healthy adults: a meta-analysis of structural neuroimaging studies.

Peng Yuan, Naftali Raz

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 274 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
274citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

274 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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214 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Peng YuanInstitute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, 87 East Ferry St., 226 Knapp Bldg., Detroit, MI 48202, United States.
Naftali RazInstitute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, 87 East Ferry St., 226 Knapp Bldg., Detroit, MI 48202, United States. Electronic address: nraz@wayne.edu.

Funding

Neural Correlates and Modifiers of Cognitive AgingR37AG011230 · NIA · WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY · PI RAZ, NAFTALI · 2005 to 2014
$5.2M
NEURAL CORRELATES OF AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN MEMORYR01AG011230 · NIA · WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY · PI DAUGHERTY, ANA MARIE, RAZ, NAFTALI · 1993 to 2020
$4.8M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG011230NIA NIH HHS R37 AG011230NIA NIH HHS R37AG11230
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lesion studies link the prefrontal cortex (PFC) to executive functions. However, the evidence from in vivo investigations in healthy people is mixed, and there are no quantitative estimates of the association strength. To examine the relationship between PFC volume and cortical thickness with executive cognition in healthy adults, we conducted a meta-analysis of studies that assessed executive functions and PFC volume (31 samples,) and PFC thickness (10 samples) in vivo, N=3272 participants. We found that larger PFC volume and greater PFC thickness were associated with better executive performance. Stronger associations between executive functions and PFC volume were linked to greater variance in the sample age but was unrelated to the mean age of a sample. Strength of association between cognitive and neuroanatomical indices depended on the executive task used in the study. PFC volume correlated stronger with Wisconsin Card Sorting Test than with digit backwards span, Trail Making Test and verbal fluency. Significant effect size was observed in lateral and medial but not orbital PFC. The results support the "bigger is better" hypothesis of brain-behavior relation in healthy adults and suggest different neural correlates across the neuropsychological tests used to assess executive functions.

Indexed as

Executive FunctionAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAgingHumansMiddle AgedNeuroimagingNeuropsychological TestsOrgan SizePrefrontal CortexYoung AdultAgingBrainCognitionCortical thicknessMorphometryMRIVolume

Identifiers

PMID24568942
PMCPMC4011981

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.