Abstract
Background:
Individual differences exist in performance in tasks that require visual search, such as camouflage detection (CD). Field dependence/independence (FD/I), as assessed using the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), is an extensively studied dimension of cognitive style that classifies participants based on their visual perceptual styles.
Materials and Methods:
In the present study, we utilized fMRI on 46 healthy participants to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms specific to the cognitive styles of FD/FI while performing a CD task using both activation magnitude and an exploratory functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Group differences between high and low performers on the two extremes of the accuracy continuum of GEFT were studied.
Results:
No statistically significant group differences were observed using whole-brain voxel-wise comparison. However, the exploratory FC analysis revealed an enhanced communication between various regions subserving the cognitive traits required for visual search by FI participants over and above their FD counterparts.
Conclusion:
These enhanced connectivities suggest additional recruitment of cognitive functions to provide computational support that might facilitate superior performance in CD task by the participants who display a field-independent cognitive style.
Impact statement
fMRI was carried out to assess the differential neural activation for a camouflage detection task in healthy individuals with differential cognitive styles of field independence/dependence, as evaluated by the Group Embedded Figures Test. The functional connectivity analysis revealed an enhanced connectivity between the regions dedicated to visual attention allocation, object identification, and complex figure analysis in the participants who displayed a field-independent cognitive style. These additional interactions might be providing cognitive resources facilitating superior performance in a visuospatial task such as camouflage detection by such individuals.
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Supplementary Material
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