SynthesisPsychiatry and clinical neurosciences2022
Neural correlates of N-back task performance and proposal for corresponding neuromodulation targets in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Synthesis in Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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7 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enhancement of the left frontoparietal network through real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging functional connectivity-informed neurofeedback and its impact on working memory in schizophrenia: A pilot study.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Trial
- Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation with concurrent cognitive performance targeting posterior parietal cortex vs prefrontal cortex on working memory in schizophrenia: a randomized clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Feasibility of Gamified EEG Neurofeedback Combined with Adaptive Working-Memory Training in Older Adults: A Pilot Study.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- The association between anhedonia and prefrontal cortex activation in patients with major depression: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Exploring the n-back task: insights, applications, and future directions.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Review
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging study of group independent components underpinning item responses to paranoid-depressive scale.World journal of clinical cases · 2023Article
- Methylphenidate is more effective to improve inhibitory control and working memory compared to tDCS in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a proof-of-concept study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
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Abstract
aimWorking memory (WM) deficit represents the most common cognitive impairment in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, making the identification of its neural substrates a crucial step towards the conceptualization of restorative interventions. We present a meta-analysis focusing on neural activations associated with the most commonly used task to measure WM, the N-back task, in patients with schizophrenia, depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Showing qualitative similarities and differences in WM processing between patients and healthy controls, we propose possible targets for cognitive enhancement approaches.
methodsSelected studies, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, were analyzed through the activation likelihood estimate statistical framework, with subsequent generation of disorder-specific N-back activation maps.
resultsDespite similar WM deficits shared across all disorders, results highlighted different brain activation patterns for each disorder compared with healthy controls. In general, results showed brain activity in frontal, parietal, subcortical, and cerebellar regions; however, reduced engagement of specific nodes of the fronto-parietal network emerged in patients compared with healthy controls. In particular, neither bipolar nor depressive disorders showed detectable activations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, while their parietal activation patterns were lateralized to the left and right hemispheres, respectively. On the other hand, patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder showed a lack of activation in the left parietal lobe, whereas patients with schizophrenia showed lower activity over the left prefrontal cortex.
conclusionThese results, together with biophysical modeling, were then used to discuss the design of future disorder-specific cognitive enhancement interventions based on noninvasive brain stimulation.
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