Directed information flow during laparoscopic surgical skill acquisition dissociated skill level and medical simulation technology

Virtual reality (VR) simulator has emerged as a laparoscopic surgical skill training tool that needs validation using brain–behavior analysis. Therefore, brain network and skilled behavior relationship were evaluated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) from seven experienced right-handed surgeons and six right-handed medical students during the performance of Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) pattern of cutting tasks in a physical and a VR simulator. Multiple regression and path analysis (MRPA) found that the FLS performance score was statistically significantly related to the interregional directed functional connectivity from the right prefrontal cortex to the supplementary motor area with F (2, 114) = 9, p < 0.001, and R(2) = 0.136. Additionally, a two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found a statistically significant effect of the simulator technology on the interregional directed functional connectivity from the right prefrontal cortex to the left primary motor cortex (F (1, 15) = 6.002, p = 0.027; partial η(2) = 0.286) that can be related to differential right-lateralized executive control of attention. Then, MRPA found that the coefficient of variation (CoV) of the FLS performance score was statistically significantly associated with the CoV of the interregionally directed functional connectivity from the right primary motor cortex to the left primary motor cortex and the left primary motor cortex to the left prefrontal cortex with F (2, 22) = 3.912, p = 0.035, and R(2) = 0.262. This highlighted the importance of the efference copy information from the motor cortices to the prefrontal cortex for postulated left-lateralized perceptual decision-making to reduce behavioral variability.