Zheng, Yunxuan;
Bo, Bin;
Wang, Danni;
Liu, Yiyang;
Shi, Lei;
Gilbert, Sam J;
Li, Yao;
(2025)
Microstructural organization of superior longitudinal fasciculus and cingulum bundle support metacognition driven cognitive offloading.
Scientific Reports
, 15
(1)
, Article 33247. 10.1038/s41598-025-18631-5.
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Abstract
People often use external tools to offload cognitive demands associated with remembering future intentions. While previous research has established a causal role of metacognition in cognitive offloading, the neural basis of white matter tracts supporting this metacognitive control process remains unclear. To address this, we conducted a study with 34 participants using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine how white matter connectivity supports metacognition driven cognitive offloading. Behaviorally, we replicated prior findings showing that under-confidence in internal memory predicts a bias toward using external reminders. At the neural level, we used diffusion tensor imaging to quantify fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of microstructural integrity in white matter. We found the microstructural integrity of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and cingulum bundle (CB) predicted deviations from the optimal use of reminders. The microstructural integrity of the fornix negatively predicted participants’ confidence in performing the task when restricted to internal memory. Our findings reveal the microstructural organization of the white-matter tracts in the fronto-temporal-parietal network are related to metacognition driven cognitive offloading. We discuss several aspects of metacognition driven cognitive offloading from a white matter microstructural perspective.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Microstructural organization of superior longitudinal fasciculus and cingulum bundle support metacognition driven cognitive offloading |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-025-18631-5 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18631-5 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Science & Technology - Other Topics, Prospective memory, Cognitive offloading, Metacognition, DTI, Fornix, Superior longitudinal fasciculus, Cingulum bundle, PROSPECTIVE MEMORY, PREFRONTAL CORTEX, HIPPOCAMPAL, INFORMATION, CONFIDENCE, REMINDERS, SYSTEMS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10215519 |
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