Brain activity associated with dual-task management differs depending on the combinations of response modalities

Several functional imaging studies have demonstrated the importance of fronto-parietal network in dual-task management. However, neural correlates underlying the difference in intensity of dual-task interference between the same and different response modalities remain unknown. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between brain activity associated with dual-task management and the combinations of response modalities. We used the dual-task requiring bilateral finger responses (DT-same condition) and that requiring finger and oral responses (DT-different condition) to visual and auditory stimuli. The right premotor cortex, precuneus and right posterior parietal cortex were significantly activated in the DT-same condition. The neural activities in the right premotor cortex significantly correlated to the delayed responses in the DT-same condition relative to the single-task conditions, indicating that the right premotor cortex is partly associated with dual-task management (i.e., the regulation of information flow). In addition, neural activity in this brain region was significantly higher in the DT-same condition than in the DT-different condition, suggesting that the difference in intensity between the same and different response modalities is partly associated with difference in the load on the premotor cortex between the DT-same and DT-different conditions. The significant activation of the parietal cortex also differed between the DT-same and DT-different conditions. These results demonstrate that brain activity associated with dual-task management differs depending on the combination of response modalities and that such a difference in brain activity, particularly in the right premotor cortex, might be partly associated with the difference in intensity of dual-task interference between the DT-same and DT-different conditions.