PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Zheng, Yunxuan AU - Wang, Danni AU - Ye, Qun AU - Zou, Futing AU - Yin, Jia AU - Li, Yao AU - Kwok, Sze Chai TI - Diffusion property and functional connectivity of superior longitudinal fasciculus underpin human metacognition AID - 10.1101/2020.03.17.994574 DP - 2020 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2020.03.17.994574 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/04/21/2020.03.17.994574.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/04/21/2020.03.17.994574.full AB - Metacognition as the capacity of monitoring one’s own cognition operates across domains. Here, we addressed whether metacognition in different cognitive domains rely on common or distinct neural substrates with combined diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques. After acquiring DTI and resting-state fMRI data, we asked participants to perform a temporal-order memory judgement task and a perceptual discrimination task, followed by trial-specific confidence judgments. DTI analysis revealed that the structural integrity (fractional anisotropy) in the anterior portion of right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) was associated with both perceptual and mnemonic metacognitive abilities. When the mnemonic metacognitive ability was disrupted by TMS, the mnemonic metacognition scores did not correlate with SLF structural integrity anymore, revealing the causal relevance of this tract in memory metacognition. Furthermore, taking the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) (both of which are connected by SLF) as seeds, we found perceptual and mnemonic metacognitive abilities to be associated with functional connectivity between DLPFC and VLPFC, whereas mnemonic metacognitive ability was selectively associated with connectivity between IPL and precuneus. These results illustrate the importance of SLF and a distinct white-matter grey-matter circuitry that supports human metacognition.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.