Abstract
Metacognition is the ability to introspect and control ongoing cognitive processes. Despite the extensive investigation of the brain architectures supporting metacognition for perception and memory, little is known about the neural basis of metacognitive capacity for motor function, a vital aspect of human behavior. Here, using functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we examined the brain substrates underlying self-awareness of handwriting, a highly practiced visuomotor skill. Results showed that experienced adult writers generally overestimated their handwriting quality, and such overestimation was more pronounced in men relative to women. Individual variations in self-awareness of handwriting quality were positively correlated with gray matter volume in the left fusiform gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus and right precuneus. The left fusiform gyrus and right middle frontal gyrus are thought to represent domain-specific brain mechanisms for handwriting self-awareness, while the right precuneus that has been reported in other domains likely represents a domain-general brain mechanism for metacognition. Furthermore, the activity of these structurally related regions in a handwriting task was not correlated with self-awareness of handwriting, suggesting the correlation with metacognition was independent of task performance. Together, this study reveals that metacognition for practiced motor skills relies on both domain-general and domain-specific brain systems, extending our understanding about the neural basis of human metacognition.
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Data and code availability
Raw MRI data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available because participants did not provide sufficient consent. Data and code are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank all the participants who have participated in this study. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31800954), Guangdong Key Basic Research Grant (2018B030332001), Shenzhen Peacock Plan (KQTD2015033016104926) and Guangdong Pearl River Talents Plan Innovative and Entrepreneurial Team grant (2016ZT06S220).
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JL: conceptualization, methodology, visualization, validation, formal analysis, investigation, writing-original draft. ZL: methodology, resources, software, investigation, formal analysis, writing-original draft. RT: conceptualization, methodology, writing-review and editing. MX: conceptualization, methodology, funding acquisition. SK: formal analysis, methodology, formal analysis. HB: conceptualization, project administration, writing-review and editing. YY: conceptualization, methodology, funding acquisition, resources, writing-review and editing, supervision.
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Li, J., Lin, Z., Tao, R. et al. Neuroanatomical correlates of self-awareness of highly practiced visuomotor skills. Brain Struct Funct 226, 2295–2306 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02328-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02328-2