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Carvallo C, Ramos-Henderson M. Trail making test - black & white (TMT B&W): Normative study for the Chilean population. J Neuropsychol 2024. [PMID: 38676338 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
The trailmaking test (TMT) has an educational bias that makes it inapplicable to people with low levels of education due to its dependence on the alphabet. The TMT standardization is the only one available in Chile, and there is a need for alternative ways of using the TMT that do not depend on the level of education for its applicability. To determine the normative scores of the TMT - black & white (TMT B&W), considering sociodemographic factors in adult and elderly Chilean population. A total sample of 227 participants (133 healthy, 94 cognitively impaired) from the Ageing Mets cohort were recruited from three areas in Chile (Antofagasta, Santiago, and Puerto Montt). The TMT B&W was administered to all participants. A multiple regression model was used to generate normative data only in the cognitively healthy group, considering the effect of age, education and sex. A significant effect of age was found in the score of the TMT B&W Parts A and B. The level of education influenced the part B of the test; however, the completion rate of the TMT B&W parts A and B was over 90% in cognitively healthy people. Norms for the number of errors were obtained, and differences between groups were found after controlling for the effect of age and education. This study is the first to provide normative data for the Chilean version of the TMT B&W and will benefit clinical neuropsychologists by improving the procedures for more accurately assessing executive functions and its impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Carvallo
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Gerontología Aplicada CIGAP, Facultad de Salud, Universidad Santo Tomás, Antofagasta, Chile
| | - Miguel Ramos-Henderson
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Gerontología Aplicada CIGAP, Facultad de Salud, Universidad Santo Tomás, Antofagasta, Chile
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Escuela de Psicología, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
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2
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Danis E, Nader AM, Degré-Pelletier J, Soulières I. Semantic and Visuospatial Fluid Reasoning in School-Aged Autistic Children. J Autism Dev Disord 2023; 53:4719-4730. [PMID: 36136200 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05746-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
In light of the known visuoperceptual strengths and altered language skills in autism, we investigated the impact of problem content (semantic/visuospatial) combined with complexity and presence of lures on fluid reasoning in 43 autistic and 41 typical children (6-13 years old). Increased complexity and presence of lures diminished performance, but less so as the children's age increased. Typical children were slightly more accurate overall, whereas autistic children were faster at solving complex visuospatial problems. Thus, reasoning could rely more extensively on visuospatial strategies in autistic versus typical children. A combined speed-accuracy measure revealed similar performance in both groups, suggesting a similar pace in fluid reasoning development. Visual presentation of conceptual information seems to suit the reasoning processes of autistic children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliane Danis
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Anne-Marie Nader
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Québec in Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada
| | - Janie Degré-Pelletier
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Isabelle Soulières
- Department of Psychology, University of Québec in Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
- CIUSSS NIM Research Center, Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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3
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Antón Toro LF, Salto F, Requena C, Maestú F. Electrophysiological connectivity of logical deduction: Early cortical MEG study. Cortex 2023; 166:365-376. [PMID: 37499565 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Complex human reasoning involves minimal abilities to extract conclusions implied in the available information. These abilities are considered "deductive" because they exemplify certain abstract relations among propositions or probabilities called deductive arguments. However, the electrophysiological dynamics which supports such complex cognitive processes has not been addressed yet. In this work we consider typically deductive logico-probabilistically valid inferences and aim to verify or refute their electrophysiological functional connectivity differences from invalid inferences with the same content (same relational variables, same stimuli, same relevant and salient features). We recorded the brain electrophysiological activity of 20 participants (age = 20.35 ± 3.23) by means of an MEG system during two consecutive reasoning tasks: a search task (invalid condition) without any specific deductive rules to follow, and a logically valid deductive task (valid condition) with explicit deductive rules as instructions. We calculated the functional connectivity (FC) for each condition and conducted a seed-based analysis in a set of cortical regions of interest. Finally, we used a cluster-based permutation test to compare the differences between logically valid and invalid conditions in terms of FC. As a first novel result we found higher FC for valid condition in beta band between regions of interest and left prefrontal, temporal, parietal, and cingulate structures. FC analysis allows a second novel result which is the definition of a propositional network with operculo-cingular, parietal and medial nodes, specifically including disputed medial deductive "core" areas. The experiment discloses measurable cortical processes which do not depend on content but on truth-functional propositional operators. These experimental novelties may contribute to understand the cortical bases of deductive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis F Antón Toro
- Research Group on Aging, Neuroscience and Applied Logic, Department of Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy, University of León, Campus Vegazana S/n 24171, León, Spain; Center for Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (C3N), Complutense University of Madrid, Campus Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo, Madrid, Spain; Department of Psychology, Health Faculty, Camilo José Cela University (UCJC), C. Castillo de Alarcón, 49, 28692 Villafranca Del Castillo, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Francisco Salto
- Research Group on Aging, Neuroscience and Applied Logic, Department of Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy, University of León, Campus Vegazana S/n 24171, León, Spain.
| | - Carmen Requena
- Research Group on Aging, Neuroscience and Applied Logic, Department of Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy, University of León, Campus Vegazana S/n 24171, León, Spain.
| | - Fernando Maestú
- Center for Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience (C3N), Complutense University of Madrid, Campus Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo, Madrid, Spain; Department of Experimental Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Campus Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo, Madrid, Spain.
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4
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Salto F, Requena C, Alvarez-Merino P, Rodríguez V, Poza J, Hornero R. Electrical analysis of logical complexity: an exploratory eeg study of logically valid/invalid deducive inference. Brain Inform 2023; 10:13. [PMID: 37286855 DOI: 10.1186/s40708-023-00194-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Logically valid deductive arguments are clear examples of abstract recursive computational procedures on propositions or on probabilities. However, it is not known if the cortical time-consuming inferential processes in which logical arguments are eventually realized in the brain are in fact physically different from other kinds of inferential processes. METHODS In order to determine whether an electrical EEG discernible pattern of logical deduction exists or not, a new experimental paradigm is proposed contrasting logically valid and invalid inferences with exactly the same content (same premises and same relational variables) and distinct logical complexity (propositional truth-functional operators). Electroencephalographic signals from 19 subjects (24.2 ± 3.3 years) were acquired in a two-condition paradigm (100 trials for each condition). After the initial general analysis, a trial-by-trial approach in beta-2 band allowed to uncover not only evoked but also phase asynchronous activity between trials. RESULTS showed that (i) deductive inferences with the same content evoked the same response pattern in logically valid and invalid conditions, (ii) mean response time in logically valid inferences is 61.54% higher, (iii) logically valid inferences are subjected to an early (400 ms) and a late reprocessing (600 ms) verified by two distinct beta-2 activations (p-value < 0,01, Wilcoxon signed rank test). CONCLUSION We found evidence of a subtle but measurable electrical trait of logical validity. Results put forward the hypothesis that some logically valid deductions are recursive or computational cortical events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Salto
- Grupo Neurociencia, Envejecimiento y Lógica Aplicada, Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de León, Campus Vegazana s/n, 24071, León, Spain.
| | - Carmen Requena
- Grupo Neurociencia, Envejecimiento y Lógica Aplicada, Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de León, Campus Vegazana s/n, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Paula Alvarez-Merino
- Grupo Neurociencia, Envejecimiento y Lógica Aplicada, Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de León, Campus Vegazana s/n, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Víctor Rodríguez
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Universidad de Valladolid, Campus M. Delibes, Paseo Belén 15, 47011, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Jesús Poza
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Universidad de Valladolid, Campus M. Delibes, Paseo Belén 15, 47011, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Roberto Hornero
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Universidad de Valladolid, Campus M. Delibes, Paseo Belén 15, 47011, Valladolid, Spain
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Zhu Y, Xu L, Yu J. Classification of autism based on short-term spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations using an adaptive graph neural network. J Neurosci Methods 2023:109901. [PMID: 37295750 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2023.109901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Revised: 06/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Short-term spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations were collected by the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system to classify children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD), and to explore abnormalities in the left inferior frontal gyrus in ASD. METHODS Using the fNIRS data of 25 children with ASD and 22 children with TD, a graph neural network combined with the temporal convolution module and the graph convolution module was used, to extract the spatio-temporal features of the data and achieve accurate classification of ASD. RESULTS The graph neural network was used to obtain a good classification result in the left inferior frontal gyrus, with an accuracy of 97.1%, precision of 95.1%, and specificity of 93.4%. It was found that the 5th channel (which is located in BA 10) and the 8th channel (which is located in BA 47) in the left inferior frontal gyrus were closely correlated with ASD. COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUSLY USED METHOD(S) Compared with the previous deep learning model using the same input, the accuracy of our model has increased by up to 13%, and the correlation between channels in the left inferior frontal gyrus area with the best classification effect was explored through the graph neural network. CONCLUSION The adaptive graph neural network (AGNN) model may be able to mine more valuable information to distinguish ASD from TD and in addition, the left inferior frontal gyrus may have greater investigative value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Zhu
- School of Computer Engineering and Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lingyu Xu
- School of Computer Engineering and Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Institute for Advanced Communication and Data Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Jie Yu
- School of Computer Engineering and Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
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6
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Gazzo Castañeda LE, Sklarek B, Dal Mas DE, Knauff M. Probabilistic and Deductive Reasoning in the Human Brain. Neuroimage 2023; 275:120180. [PMID: 37211191 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Reasoning is a process of inference from given premises to new conclusions. Deductive reasoning is truth-preserving and conclusions can only be either true or false. Probabilistic reasoning is based on degrees of belief and conclusions can be more or less likely. While deductive reasoning requires people to focus on the logical structure of the inference and ignore its content, probabilistic reasoning requires the retrieval of prior knowledge from memory. Recently, however, some researchers have denied that deductive reasoning is a faculty of the human mind. What looks like deductive inference might actually also be probabilistic inference, only with extreme probabilities. We tested this assumption in an fMRI experiment with two groups of participants: one group was instructed to reason deductively, the other received probabilistic instructions. They could freely choose between a binary and a graded response to each problem. The conditional probability and the logical validity of the inferences were systematically varied. Results show that prior knowledge was only used in the probabilistic reasoning group. These participants gave graded responses more often than those in the deductive reasoning group and their reasoning was accompanied by activations in the hippocampus. Participants in the deductive group mostly gave binary responses and their reasoning was accompanied by activations in the anterior cingulate cortex, inferior frontal cortex, and parietal regions. These findings show that (1) deductive and probabilistic reasoning rely on different neurocognitive processes, (2) people can suppress their prior knowledge to reason deductively, and (3) not all inferences can be reduced to probabilistic reasoning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Benjamin Sklarek
- Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen
| | - Dennis E Dal Mas
- Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen
| | - Markus Knauff
- Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen
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7
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Bora E, Yalincetin B, Akdede BB, Alptekin K. Deficits in Analytic and Common-Sense Reasoning in Schizophrenia. J Nerv Ment Dis 2023; 211:376-381. [PMID: 37040138 DOI: 10.1097/nmd.0000000000001635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Human rationality has a dual nature including analytic and common-sense thinking. Symptoms of schizophrenia have been suggested to be related to deficits in these aspects of logical reasoning. However, empirical studies investigating logical reasoning errors in schizophrenia and their clinical and neurocognitive correlates are scarce. Formal thought disorder and theory of mind (ToM) might be particularly important for understanding logical reasoning errors in schizophrenia. The current study compared the performances of 80 patients with schizophrenia with those of 49 healthy controls on syllogistic and counterfactual reasoning tasks and investigated clinical, neuropsychological, and social cognitive correlates of logical reasoning in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia were impaired in both analytic and common-sense thinking. ToM impairment was a significant predictor of analytic reasoning abilities in schizophrenia. Executive functions and verbal memory were also significantly associated with analytic reasoning in schizophrenia. Further studies investigating logical reasoning errors in the early phases of the illness are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Berna Yalincetin
- Department of Neurosciences, Health Sciences Institute, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
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8
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Seeing inferences: brain dynamics and oculomotor signatures of non-verbal deduction. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2341. [PMID: 36759690 PMCID: PMC9911777 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29307-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
We often express our thoughts through words, but thinking goes well beyond language. Here we focus on an elementary but basic thinking process, disjunction elimination, elicited by elementary visual scenes deprived of linguistic content, describing its neural and oculomotor correlates. We track two main components of a nonverbal deductive process: the construction of a logical representation (A or B), and its simplification by deduction (not A, therefore B). We identify the network active in the two phases and show that in the latter, but not in the former, it overlaps with areas known to respond to verbal logical reasoning. Oculomotor markers consistently differentiate logical processing induced by the construction of a representation, its simplification by deductive inference, and its maintenance when inferences cannot be drawn. Our results reveal how integrative logical processes incorporate novel experience in the flow of thoughts induced by visual scenes.
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9
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Coetzee JP, Johnson MA, Lee Y, Wu AD, Iacoboni M, Monti MM. Dissociating Language and Thought in Human Reasoning. Brain Sci 2022; 13:brainsci13010067. [PMID: 36672048 PMCID: PMC9856203 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13010067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
What is the relationship between language and complex thought? In the context of deductive reasoning there are two main views. Under the first, which we label here the language-centric view, language is central to the syntax-like combinatorial operations of complex reasoning. Under the second, which we label here the language-independent view, these operations are dissociable from the mechanisms of natural language. We applied continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS), a form of noninvasive neuromodulation, to healthy adult participants to transiently inhibit a subregion of Broca's area (left BA44) associated in prior work with parsing the syntactic relations of natural language. We similarly inhibited a subregion of dorsomedial frontal cortex (left medial BA8) which has been associated with core features of logical reasoning. There was a significant interaction between task and stimulation site. Post hoc tests revealed that performance on a linguistic reasoning task, but not deductive reasoning task, was significantly impaired after inhibition of left BA44, and performance on a deductive reasoning task, but not linguistic reasoning task, was decreased after inhibition of left medial BA8 (however not significantly). Subsequent linear contrasts supported this pattern. These novel results suggest that deductive reasoning may be dissociable from linguistic processes in the adult human brain, consistent with the language-independent view.
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Affiliation(s)
- John P. Coetzee
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Polytrauma Division, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
| | - Micah A. Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Youngzie Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Allan D. Wu
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Brain Research Institute (BRI), University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Marco Iacoboni
- Brain Research Institute (BRI), University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Martin M. Monti
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Brain Research Institute (BRI), University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Brain Injury Research Center (BIRC), Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-310-825-8546
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10
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Baena D, Fang Z, Ray LB, Owen AM, Fogel SM. Brain activations time locked to slow wave-coupled sleep spindles correlates with intellectual abilities. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:5409-5419. [PMID: 36336346 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Sleep spindles (SP) are one of the few known electrophysiological neuronal biomarkers of interindividual differences in cognitive abilities and aptitudes. Recent simultaneous electroencephalography with functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) studies suggest that the magnitude of the activation of brain regions recruited during spontaneous spindle events is specifically related to Reasoning abilities. However, it is not known if the relationship with cognitive abilities differs between uncoupled spindles, uncoupled slow waves (SW), and coupled SW–SP complexes, nor have the functional-neuroanatomical substrates that support this relationship been identified. Here, we investigated the functional significance of activation of brain areas recruited during SW-coupled spindles, uncoupled spindles, and uncoupled slow waves. We hypothesize that brain activations time locked to SW-coupled spindle complexes will be primarily associated to Reasoning abilities, especially in subcortical areas. Our results provide direct evidence that the relationship between Reasoning abilities and sleep spindles depends on spindle coupling status. Specifically, we found that the putamen and thalamus, recruited during coupled SW–SP events were positively correlated with Reasoning abilities. In addition, we found a negative association between Reasoning abilities and hippocampal activation time-locked to uncoupled SWs that might reflect a refractory mechanism in the absence of new, intensive hippocampal-dependent memory processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Baena
- Sleep Unit, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal , Ontario K1Z 7K4, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Zhuo Fang
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa , Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Laura B Ray
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa , Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Adrian M Owen
- The Brain & Mind Institute, Western University , London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Department of Psychology, Western University , London, Ontario N6A 5C1, Canada
| | - Stuart M Fogel
- Sleep Unit, University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal , Ontario K1Z 7K4, Ottawa, Canada
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa , Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
- University of Ottawa, Brain & Mind Research Institute , Ontario K1N 6N5, Ottawa, Canada
- The Brain & Mind Institute, Western University , London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
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11
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Tooley UA, Park AT, Leonard JA, Boroshok AL, McDermott CL, Tisdall MD, Bassett DS, Mackey AP. The Age of Reason: Functional Brain Network Development during Childhood. J Neurosci 2022; 42:8237-8251. [PMID: 36192151 PMCID: PMC9653278 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0511-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Human childhood is characterized by dramatic changes in the mind and brain. However, little is known about the large-scale intrinsic cortical network changes that occur during childhood because of methodological challenges in scanning young children. Here, we overcome this barrier by using sophisticated acquisition and analysis tools to investigate functional network development in children between the ages of 4 and 10 years ([Formula: see text]; 50 female, 42 male). At multiple spatial scales, age is positively associated with brain network segregation. At the system level, age was associated with segregation of systems involved in attention from those involved in abstract cognition, and with integration among attentional and perceptual systems. Associations between age and functional connectivity are most pronounced in visual and medial prefrontal cortex, the two ends of a gradient from perceptual, externally oriented cortex to abstract, internally oriented cortex. These findings suggest that both ends of the sensory-association gradient may develop early, in contrast to the classical theories that cortical maturation proceeds from back to front, with sensory areas developing first and association areas developing last. More mature patterns of brain network architecture, controlling for age, were associated with better visuospatial reasoning abilities. Our results suggest that as cortical architecture becomes more specialized, children become more able to reason about the world and their place in it.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Anthropologists have called the transition from early to middle childhood the "age of reason", when children across cultures become more independent. We employ cutting-edge neuroimaging acquisition and analysis approaches to investigate associations between age and functional brain architecture in childhood. Age was positively associated with segregation between cortical systems that process the external world and those that process abstract phenomena like the past, future, and minds of others. Surprisingly, we observed pronounced development at both ends of the sensory-association gradient, challenging the theory that sensory areas develop first and association areas develop last. Our results open new directions for research into how brains reorganize to support rapid gains in cognitive and socioemotional skills as children reach the age of reason.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ursula A Tooley
- Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
| | - Anne T Park
- Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
| | - Julia A Leonard
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
| | - Austin L Boroshok
- Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
| | - Cassidy L McDermott
- Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
| | - Matthew D Tisdall
- Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
| | - Dani S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
- Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
| | - Allyson P Mackey
- Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
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12
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Cortes RA, Peterson EG, Kraemer DJM, Kolvoord RA, Uttal DH, Dinh N, Weinberger AB, Daker RJ, Lyons IM, Goldman D, Green AE. Transfer from spatial education to verbal reasoning and prediction of transfer from learning-related neural change. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo3555. [PMID: 35947663 PMCID: PMC9365289 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo3555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Current debate surrounds the promise of neuroscience for education, including whether learning-related neural changes can predict learning transfer better than traditional performance-based learning assessments. Longstanding debate in philosophy and psychology concerns the proposition that spatial processes underlie seemingly nonspatial/verbal reasoning (mental model theory). If so, education that fosters spatial cognition might improve verbal reasoning. Here, in a quasi-experimental design in real-world STEM classrooms, a curriculum devised to foster spatial cognition yielded transfer to improved verbal reasoning. Further indicating a spatial basis for verbal transfer, students' spatial cognition gains predicted and mediated their reasoning improvement. Longitudinal fMRI detected learning-related changes in neural activity, connectivity, and representational similarity in spatial cognition-implicated regions. Neural changes predicted and mediated learning transfer. Ensemble modeling demonstrated better prediction of transfer from neural change than from traditional measures (tests and grades). Results support in-school "spatial education" and suggest that neural change can inform future development of transferable curricula.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - David J. M. Kraemer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Robert A. Kolvoord
- College of Integrated Science and Engineering, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA
| | - David H. Uttal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Nhi Dinh
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, DC, USA
- Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Adam B. Weinberger
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, DC, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Ian M. Lyons
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, DC, USA
| | - Daniel Goldman
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, DC, USA
| | - Adam E. Green
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, DC, USA
- Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Georgetown University, DC, USA
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13
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Zhang X, Qiu Y, Li J, Jia C, Liao J, Chen K, Qiu L, Yuan Z, Huang R. Neural correlates of transitive inference: An SDM meta-analysis on 32 fMRI studies. Neuroimage 2022; 258:119354. [PMID: 35659997 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Transitive inference (TI) is a critical capacity involving the integration of relevant information into prior knowledge structure for drawing novel inferences on unobserved relationships. To date, the neural correlates of TI remain unclear due to the small sample size and heterogeneity of various experimental tasks from individual studies. Here, the meta-analysis on 32 fMRI studies was performed to detect brain activation patterns of TI and its three paradigms (spatial inference, hierarchical inference, and associative inference). We found the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex (PFC), putamen, posterior parietal cortex (PPC), retrosplenial cortex (RSC), supplementary motor area (SMA), precentral gyrus (PreCG), and median cingulate cortex (MCC) were engaged in TI. Specifically, the RSC was implicated in the associative inference, whereas PPC, SMA, PreCG, and MCC were implicated in the hierarchical inference. In addition, the hierarchical inference and associative inference both evoked activation in the hippocampus, medial PFC, and PCC. Although the meta-analysis on spatial inference did not generate a reliable result due to insufficient amount of investigations, the present work still offers a new insight for better understanding the neural basis underlying TI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoying Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Yidan Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Jinhui Li
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Chuchu Jia
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiajun Liao
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Kemeng Chen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Lixin Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhen Yuan
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
| | - Ruiwang Huang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education; School of Psychology; Center for Studies of Psychological Application; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631 Guangzhou, China.
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14
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Belekou A, Papageorgiou C, Karavasilis E, Tsaltas E, Kelekis N, Klein C, Smyrnis N. Paradoxical Reasoning: An fMRI Study. Front Psychol 2022; 13:850491. [PMID: 35592168 PMCID: PMC9113220 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.850491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Paradoxes are a special form of reasoning leading to absurd inferences in contrast to logical reasoning that is used to reach valid conclusions. A functional MRI (fMRI) study was conducted to investigate the neural substrates of paradoxical and deductive reasoning. Twenty-four healthy participants were scanned using fMRI, while they engaged in reasoning tasks based on arguments, which were either Zeno’s like paradoxes (paradoxical reasoning) or Aristotelian arguments (deductive reasoning). Clusters of significant activation for paradoxical reasoning were located in bilateral inferior frontal and middle temporal gyrus. Clusters of significant activation for deductive reasoning were located in bilateral superior and inferior parietal lobe, precuneus, and inferior frontal gyrus. These results confirmed that different brain activation patterns are engaged for paradoxical vs. deductive reasoning providing a basis for future studies on human physiological as well as pathological reasoning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antigoni Belekou
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Sensorimotor Control, University Mental Health, Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute "COSTAS STEFANIS", Athens, Greece.,First Department of Psychiatry, Eginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Charalabos Papageorgiou
- First Department of Psychiatry, Eginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Efstratios Karavasilis
- Second Department of Radiology, General University Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Eleftheria Tsaltas
- First Department of Psychiatry, Eginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Kelekis
- Second Department of Radiology, General University Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Christoph Klein
- Second Department of Psychiatry, General University Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Nikolaos Smyrnis
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Sensorimotor Control, University Mental Health, Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute "COSTAS STEFANIS", Athens, Greece.,Second Department of Psychiatry, General University Hospital "ATTIKON", Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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15
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Frontal Intrinsic Connectivity Networks Support Contradiction Identification During Inductive and Deductive Reasoning. Cognit Comput 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12559-021-09982-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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16
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Vartanian O, Lam TK, Maceda E, De Neys W. Can a fast thinker be a good thinker? The neural correlates of base-rate neglect measured using a two-response paradigm. Cogn Neuropsychol 2021; 38:365-386. [PMID: 35274593 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2022.2041589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Traditionally, it has been assumed that logical thinking requires deliberation. However, people can also make logical responses quickly, exhibiting logical intuitions. We examined the neural correlates of logical intuitions by administering base rate problems during fMRI scanning using a two-response paradigm where participants first responded quickly and then reflectively to problems that did or did not pit a normative response against an intuitively-cued stereotypical response (i.e., conflict vs. non-conflict problems). As predicted, participants were less likely to make judgments in accordance with base rates on conflict problems. Critically, in only 4% of cases did longer deliberation change an initially biased response to a normatively correct response. The fMRI data revealed that intuitively-made initial biased judgments nevertheless activate regions typically involved in cognitive control, executive functions and attention, including anterior, inferior, middle and superior frontal cortex, suggesting that even when errors are made, there might be very early awareness of conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oshin Vartanian
- Human Effectiveness Section, Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Timothy K Lam
- Human Effectiveness Section, Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Elaine Maceda
- Human Effectiveness Section, Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Wim De Neys
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Paris, Paris, France
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17
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Shin M, Jeon HA. A Cortical Surface-Based Meta-Analysis of Human Reasoning. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:5497-5510. [PMID: 34180523 PMCID: PMC8568011 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in neuroimaging have augmented numerous findings in the human reasoning process but have yielded varying results. One possibility for this inconsistency is that reasoning is such an intricate cognitive process, involving attention, memory, executive functions, symbolic processing, and fluid intelligence, whereby various brain regions are inevitably implicated in orchestrating the process. Therefore, researchers have used meta-analyses for a better understanding of neural mechanisms of reasoning. However, previous meta-analysis techniques include weaknesses such as an inadequate representation of the cortical surface’s highly folded geometry. Accordingly, we developed a new meta-analysis method called Bayesian meta-analysis of the cortical surface (BMACS). BMACS offers a fast, accurate, and accessible inference of the spatial patterns of cognitive processes from peak brain activations across studies by applying spatial point processes to the cortical surface. Using BMACS, we found that the common pattern of activations from inductive and deductive reasoning was colocalized with the multiple-demand system, indicating that reasoning is a high-level convergence of complex cognitive processes. We hope surface-based meta-analysis will be facilitated by BMACS, bringing more profound knowledge of various cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minho Shin
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Daegu 42988, Korea
| | - Hyeon-Ae Jeon
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Daegu 42988, Korea.,Partner Group of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, DGIST, Daegu 42988, Korea
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18
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Feng W, Wang W, Liu J, Wang Z, Tian L, Fan L. Neural Correlates of Causal Inferences in Discourse Understanding and Logical Problem-Solving: A Meta-Analysis Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:666179. [PMID: 34248525 PMCID: PMC8261065 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.666179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In discourse comprehension, we need to draw inferences to make sense of discourse. Previous neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural correlates of causal inferences in discourse understanding. However, these findings have been divergent, and how these types of inferences are related to causal inferences in logical problem-solving remains unclear. Using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach, the current meta-analysis analyzed 19 experiments on causal inferences in discourse understanding and 20 experiments on those in logical problem-solving to identify the neural correlates of these two cognitive processes and their shared and distinct neural correlates. We found that causal inferences in discourse comprehension recruited a left-lateralized frontotemporal brain system, including the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), while causal inferences in logical problem-solving engaged a nonoverlapping brain system in the frontal and parietal cortex, including the left inferior frontal gyrus, the bilateral middle frontal gyri, the dorsal MPFC, and the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Furthermore, the pattern similarity analyses showed that causal inferences in discourse understanding were primarily related to the terms about language processing and theory-of-mind processing. Both types of inferences were found to be related to the terms about memory and executive function. These findings suggest that causal inferences in discourse understanding recruit distinct neural bases from those in logical problem-solving and rely more on semantic knowledge and social interaction experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wangshu Feng
- Research Institute of Foreign Languages, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
| | - Weijuan Wang
- Research Institute of Foreign Languages, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
| | - Jia Liu
- Research Institute of Foreign Languages, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhen Wang
- Research Institute of Foreign Languages, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
| | - Lingyun Tian
- National Research Centre for Foreign Language Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
| | - Lin Fan
- Artificial Intelligence and Human Languages Lab, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China
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19
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Toma FM, Miyakoshi M. Left Frontal EEG Power Responds to Stock Price Changes in a Simulated Asset Bubble Market. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11060670. [PMID: 34063778 PMCID: PMC8223788 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11060670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Financial bubbles are a result of aggregate irrational behavior and cannot be explained by standard economic pricing theory. Research in neuroeconomics can improve our understanding of their causes. We conducted an experiment in which 28 healthy subjects traded in a simulated market bubble, while scalp EEG was recorded using a low-cost, BCI-friendly desktop device with 14 electrodes. Independent component (IC) analysis was performed to decompose brain signals and the obtained scalp topography was used to cluster the ICs. We computed single-trial time-frequency power relative to the onset of stock price display and estimated the correlation between EEG power and stock price across trials using a general linear model. We found that delta band (1-4 Hz) EEG power within the left frontal region negatively correlated with the trial-by-trial stock prices including the financial bubble. We interpreted the result as stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) occurring as a dis-inhibition of the resting state network. We conclude that the combination between the desktop-BCI-friendly EEG, the simulated financial bubble and advanced signal processing and statistical approaches could successfully identify the neural correlate of the financial bubble. We add to the neuroeconomics literature a complementary EEG neurometric as a bubble predictor, which can further be explored in future decision-making experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Makoto Miyakoshi
- Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience, Institute for Neural Computation, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0559, USA
- Correspondence:
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20
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Demir-Lira ÖE, Prado J, Booth JR. Neurocognitive basis of deductive reasoning in children varies with parental education. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:3396-3410. [PMID: 33978281 PMCID: PMC8249891 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The neurocognitive basis of elementary academic skills varies with parental socioeconomic status (SES). Little is known, however, about SES‐related differences underlying higher‐order cognitive skills that are critical for school success, such as reasoning. Here we used fMRI to examine how the neurocognitive basis of deductive reasoning varies as a function of parental education in school‐aged children. Higher parental education was associated with greater reliance on the left inferior frontal gyrus when solving set‐inclusion problems, consistent with other work suggesting that these problems might more heavily rely on verbal systems in the brain. In addition, children who are at the lower end of the parental education continuum, but have higher nonverbal skills relied on right parietal areas to a greater degree than their peers for solving set‐inclusion problems. Finally, lower parental education children with higher verbal or nonverbal skill engaged dorsolateral prefrontal regions to a greater degree for set‐inclusion and linear‐order relations than their peers. These findings suggest that children with lower parental education rely on spatial and cognitive control mechanisms to achieve parity with their peers with parents who have more education. Better understanding variability in the neurocognitive networks that children recruit as a function of their parental factors might benefit future individualized interventions that best match children's characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ö Ece Demir-Lira
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.,DeLTA Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.,Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Jérôme Prado
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Experiential Neuroscience and Mental Training Team, INSERM U1028 - CNRS UMR5292, University of Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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21
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Zhen S, Yu R. Neural correlates of recursive thinking during interpersonal strategic interactions. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:2128-2146. [PMID: 33512053 PMCID: PMC8046141 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Revised: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
To navigate the complex social world, individuals need to represent others' mental states to think strategically and predict their next move. Strategic mentalizing can be classified into different levels of theory of mind according to its order of mental state attribution of other people's beliefs, desires, intentions, and so forth. For example, reasoning people's beliefs about simple world facts is the first-order attribution while going further to reason people's beliefs about the minds of others is the second-order attribution. The neural substrates that support such high-order recursive reasoning in strategic interpersonal interactions are still unclear. Here, using a sequential-move interactional game together with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we showed that recursive reasoning engaged the frontal-subcortical regions. At the stimulus stage, the ventral striatum was more activated in high-order reasoning as compared with low-order reasoning. At the decision stage, high-order reasoning activated the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and other mentalizing regions. Moreover, functional connectivity between the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the insula/hippocampus was positively correlated with individual differences in high-order social reasoning. This work delineates the neural correlates of high-order recursive thinking in strategic games and highlights the key role of the interplay between mPFC and subcortical regions in advanced social decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanshan Zhen
- Department of PsychologyNational University of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore
| | - Rongjun Yu
- Department of Management, School of BusinessHong Kong Baptist UniversityHong KongChina
- Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Faculty of Social SciencesHong Kong Baptist UniversityHong KongChina
- Department of Physics, Faculty of ScienceHong Kong Baptist UniversityHong KongChina
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22
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Age-related differences in structural and functional prefrontal networks during a logical reasoning task. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 15:1085-1102. [PMID: 32556885 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-020-00315-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
In logical reasoning, difficulties in inhibition of currently-held beliefs may lead to unwarranted conclusions, known as belief bias. Aging is associated with difficulties in inhibitory control, which may lead to deficits in inhibition of currently-held beliefs. No study to date, however, has investigated the underlying neural substrates of age-related differences in logical reasoning and the impact of belief load. The aim of the present study was to delineate age differences in brain activity during a syllogistic logical reasoning task while the believability load of logical inferences was manipulated. Twenty-nine, healthy, younger and thirty, healthy, older adults (males and females) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment in which they were asked to determine the logical validity of conclusions. Unlike younger adults, older adults engaged a large-scale network including anterior cingulate cortex and inferior frontal gyrus during conclusion stage. Our functional connectivity results suggest that while older adults engaged the anterior cingulate network to overcome their intuitive responses for believable inferences, the inferior frontal gyrus network contributed to higher control over responses during both believable and unbelievable conditions. Our functional results were further supported by structure-function-behavior analyses indicating the importance of cingulum bundle and uncinate fasciculus integrity in rejection of believable statements. These novel findings lend evidence for age-related differences in belief bias, with potentially important implications for decision making where currently-held beliefs and given assumptions are in conflict.
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23
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Salto F, Requena C, Álvarez-Merino P, Antón-Toro LF, Maestú F. Brain electrical traits of logical validity. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7982. [PMID: 33846491 PMCID: PMC8042011 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87191-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroscience has studied deductive reasoning over the last 20 years under the assumption that deductive inferences are not only de jure but also de facto distinct from other forms of inference. The objective of this research is to verify if logically valid deductions leave any cerebral electrical trait that is distinct from the trait left by non-valid deductions. 23 subjects with an average age of 20.35 years were registered with MEG and placed into a two conditions paradigm (100 trials for each condition) which each presented the exact same relational complexity (same variables and content) but had distinct logical complexity. Both conditions show the same electromagnetic components (P3, N4) in the early temporal window (250-525 ms) and P6 in the late temporal window (500-775 ms). The significant activity in both valid and invalid conditions is found in sensors from medial prefrontal regions, probably corresponding to the ACC or to the medial prefrontal cortex. The amplitude and intensity of valid deductions is significantly lower in both temporal windows (p = 0.0003). The reaction time was 54.37% slower in the valid condition. Validity leaves a minimal but measurable hypoactive electrical trait in brain processing. The minor electrical demand is attributable to the recursive and automatable character of valid deductions, suggesting a physical indicator of computational deductive properties. It is hypothesized that all valid deductions are recursive and hypoactive.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Luís F Antón-Toro
- Laboratory of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Universidad Complutense/Universidad Politécnica, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Maestú
- Laboratory of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Universidad Complutense/Universidad Politécnica, Madrid, Spain
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24
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Liu YF, Kim J, Wilson C, Bedny M. Computer code comprehension shares neural resources with formal logical inference in the fronto-parietal network. eLife 2020; 9:e59340. [PMID: 33319745 PMCID: PMC7738180 DOI: 10.7554/elife.59340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the importance of programming to modern society, the cognitive and neural bases of code comprehension are largely unknown. Programming languages might 'recycle' neurocognitive mechanisms originally developed for natural languages. Alternatively, comprehension of code could depend on fronto-parietal networks shared with other culturally-invented symbol systems, such as formal logic and symbolic math such as algebra. Expert programmers (average 11 years of programming experience) performed code comprehension and memory control tasks while undergoing fMRI. The same participants also performed formal logic, symbolic math, executive control, and language localizer tasks. A left-lateralized fronto-parietal network was recruited for code comprehension. Patterns of activity within this network distinguish between 'for' loops and 'if' conditional code functions. In terms of the underlying neural basis, code comprehension overlapped extensively with formal logic and to a lesser degree math. Overlap with executive processes and language was low, but laterality of language and code covaried across individuals. Cultural symbol systems, including code, depend on a distinctive fronto-parietal cortical network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Fei Liu
- Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Judy Kim
- Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
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25
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Wang L, Zhang M, Zou F, Wu X, Wang Y. Deductive-reasoning brain networks: A coordinate-based meta-analysis of the neural signatures in deductive reasoning. Brain Behav 2020; 10:e01853. [PMID: 32990371 PMCID: PMC7749517 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Deductive reasoning is a complex and poorly understood concept in the field of psychology. Many cognitive neuroscience studies have been published on deductive reasoning but have yielded inconsistent findings. METHODS In this study, we analyzed collected data from 38 articles using a recently proposed activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach and used conjunction analysis to better determine the intersection of the results of meta-analyses. RESULTS First, the left hemispheres in the inferior parietal lobule (Brodmann area 40 [BA40]), middle frontal gyrus (BA6), medial frontal gyrus (BA8), inferior frontal gyrus (BA45/46), caudate, and insula (BA47) were revealed to be significant brain regions via simple-effect analysis (deductive reasoning versus baseline). Furthermore, IFG, insula, and cingulate (the key neural hubs of the cingulo-opercular network) were highlighted in overlapped functional connectivity maps. CONCLUSION The findings of the current study are consistent with the view that deductive reasoning requires a succession of stages, which included decoding of linguistic information, conversion and correction of rules, and transformation of inferential results into conclusive outputs, all of which are putatively processed via a distributed network of brain regions encompassing frontal/parietal cortices, as well as the caudate and other subcortical structures, which suggested that in the process of deductive reasoning, the coding and integration of premise information is indispensable, and it is also crucial to the execution and monitoring of the cognitive processing of reasoning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Wang
- Department of PsychologyXinxiang Medical UniversityHenanChina
| | - Meng Zhang
- Department of PsychologyXinxiang Medical UniversityHenanChina
- Department of PsychiatryHenan Mental HospitalThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical UniversityXinxiangChina
| | - Feng Zou
- Department of PsychologyXinxiang Medical UniversityHenanChina
| | - Xin Wu
- Department of PsychologyXinxiang Medical UniversityHenanChina
| | - Yufeng Wang
- Department of PsychologyXinxiang Medical UniversityHenanChina
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26
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Vartanian O, Saint SA, Herz N, Suedfeld P. The Creative Brain Under Stress: Considerations for Performance in Extreme Environments. Front Psychol 2020; 11:585969. [PMID: 33192916 PMCID: PMC7662463 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.585969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the last 2 decades, we have begun to gain traction on the neural systems that support creative cognition. Specifically, a converging body of evidence from various domains has demonstrated that creativity arises from the interaction of two large-scale systems in the brain: Whereas the default network (DN) is involved in internally-oriented generation of novel concepts, the executive control network (ECN) exerts top-down control over that generative process to select task-appropriate output. In addition, the salience network (SN) regulates switching between those networks in the course of creative cognition. In contrast, we know much less about the workings of these large-scale systems in support of creativity under extreme conditions, although that is beginning to change. Specifically, there is growing evidence from systems neuroscience to demonstrate that the functioning and connectivity of DN, ECN, and SN are influenced by stress - findings that can be used to improve our understanding of the behavioral effects of stress on creativity. Toward that end, we review findings from the neuroscience of creativity, behavioral research on the impact of stress on creativity, and the systems-level view of the brain under stress to suggest ways in which creativity might be affected under extreme conditions. Although our focus is largely on acute stress, we also touch on the possible impact of chronic stress on creative cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oshin Vartanian
- Human Effectiveness Section, Toronto Research Centre, Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sidney Ann Saint
- Human Effectiveness Section, Toronto Research Centre, Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Nicole Herz
- Human Effectiveness Section, Toronto Research Centre, Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Peter Suedfeld
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Prado J, Léone J, Epinat-Duclos J, Trouche E, Mercier H. The neural bases of argumentative reasoning. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2020; 208:104827. [PMID: 32590183 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2020.104827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2019] [Revised: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Most reasoning tasks used in behavioral and neuroimaging studies are abstract, triggering slow, effortful processes. By contrast, most of everyday life reasoning is fast and effortless, as when we exchange arguments in conversation. Recent behavioral studies have shown that reasoning tasks with the same underlying logic can be solved much more easily if they are embedded in an argumentative context. In the present article, we study the neural bases of this type of everyday, argumentative reasoning. Such reasoning is both a social and a metarepresentational process, suggesting it should share some mechanisms, and thus some neural bases, with other social, metarepresentational process such as pragmatics, metacognition, or theory of mind. To isolate the neural bases of argumentative reasoning, we measured fMRI activity of participants who read the same statement presented either as the conclusion of an argument, or as an assertion. We found that conclusions of arguments, compared to assertions, were associated with greater activity in a region of the medial prefrontal cortex that was identified in quantitative meta-analyses of studies on theory of mind. This study shows that it is possible to use more ecologically valid tasks to study the neural bases of reasoning, and that using such tasks might point to different neural bases than those observed with the more abstract and artificial tasks typically used in the neuroscience of reasoning. Specifically, we speculate that reasoning in an argumentative context might rely on mechanisms supporting metarepresentational processes in the medial prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Prado
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Experiential Neuroscience and Mental Training Team (EDUWELL), INSERM U1028 - CNRS UMR5292, University of Lyon, Lyon, France; Marc Jeannerod Institute of Cognitive Science, CNRS UMR 5304, University of Lyon, Lyon, France.
| | - Jessica Léone
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Experiential Neuroscience and Mental Training Team (EDUWELL), INSERM U1028 - CNRS UMR5292, University of Lyon, Lyon, France; Marc Jeannerod Institute of Cognitive Science, CNRS UMR 5304, University of Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Justine Epinat-Duclos
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Experiential Neuroscience and Mental Training Team (EDUWELL), INSERM U1028 - CNRS UMR5292, University of Lyon, Lyon, France; Marc Jeannerod Institute of Cognitive Science, CNRS UMR 5304, University of Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Emmanuel Trouche
- Marc Jeannerod Institute of Cognitive Science, CNRS UMR 5304, University of Lyon, Lyon, France; University Mohammed 6 Polytechnic, Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences, Ben Guerir, Morocco
| | - Hugo Mercier
- Marc Jeannerod Institute of Cognitive Science, CNRS UMR 5304, University of Lyon, Lyon, France; Institut Jean Nicod, Département d'études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France.
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28
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Holyoak KJ, Monti MM. Relational Integration in the Human Brain: A Review and Synthesis. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 33:341-356. [PMID: 32762521 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Relational integration is required when multiple explicit representations of relations between entities must be jointly considered to make inferences. We provide an overview of the neural substrate of relational integration in humans and the processes that support it, focusing on work on analogical and deductive reasoning. In addition to neural evidence, we consider behavioral and computational work that has informed neural investigations of the representations of individual relations and of relational integration. In very general terms, evidence from neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and neuromodulatory studies points to a small set of regions (generally left lateralized) that appear to constitute key substrates for component processes of relational integration. These include posterior parietal cortex, implicated in the representation of first-order relations (e.g., A:B); rostrolateral pFC, apparently central in integrating first-order relations so as to generate and/or evaluate higher-order relations (e.g., A:B::C:D); dorsolateral pFC, involved in maintaining relations in working memory; and ventrolateral pFC, implicated in interference control (e.g., inhibiting salient information that competes with relevant relations). Recent work has begun to link computational models of relational representation and reasoning with patterns of neural activity within these brain areas.
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29
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Ge T, Chen CY, Doyle AE, Vettermann R, Tuominen LJ, Holt DJ, Sabuncu MR, Smoller JW. The Shared Genetic Basis of Educational Attainment and Cerebral Cortical Morphology. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3471-3481. [PMID: 30272126 PMCID: PMC6644848 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2018] [Revised: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Individual differences in educational attainment are linked to differences in intelligence, and predict important social, economic, and health outcomes. Previous studies have found common genetic factors that influence educational achievement, cognitive performance and total brain volume (i.e., brain size). Here, in a large sample of participants from the UK Biobank, we investigate the shared genetic basis between educational attainment and fine-grained cerebral cortical morphological features, and associate this genetic variation with a related aspect of cognitive ability. Importantly, we execute novel statistical methods that enable high-dimensional genetic correlation analysis, and compute high-resolution surface maps for the genetic correlations between educational attainment and vertex-wise morphological measurements. We conduct secondary analyses, using the UK Biobank verbal-numerical reasoning score, to confirm that variation in educational attainment that is genetically correlated with cortical morphology is related to differences in cognitive performance. Our analyses relate the genetic overlap between cognitive ability and cortical thickness measurements to bilateral primary motor cortex as well as predominantly left superior temporal cortex and proximal regions. These findings extend our understanding of the neurobiology that connects genetic variation to individual differences in educational attainment and cognitive performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Ge
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Chia-Yen Chen
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alysa E Doyle
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Richard Vettermann
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Lauri J Tuominen
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Daphne J Holt
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Mert R Sabuncu
- School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Jordan W Smoller
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
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30
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Luzzi S, Baldinelli S, Ranaldi V, Fiori C, Plutino A, Fringuelli FM, Silvestrini M, Baggio G, Reverberi C. The neural bases of discourse semantic and pragmatic deficits in patients with frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Cortex 2020; 128:174-191. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2019] [Revised: 06/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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31
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Ziaei M, Bonyadi MR, Reutens DC. Role of the Hippocampus During Logical Reasoning and Belief Bias in Aging. Front Aging Neurosci 2020; 12:111. [PMID: 32477096 PMCID: PMC7232576 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.00111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Reasoning requires initial encoding of the semantic association between premises or assumptions, retrieval of these semantic associations from memory, and recombination of information to draw a logical conclusion. Currently-held beliefs can interfere with the content of the assumptions if not congruent and inhibited. This study aimed to investigate the role of the hippocampus and hippocampal networks during logical reasoning tasks in which the congruence between currently-held beliefs and assumptions varies. Participants of younger and older age completed a series of syllogistic reasoning tasks in which two premises and one conclusion were presented and they were required to decide if the conclusion logically followed the premises. The belief load of premises was manipulated to be either congruent or incongruent with currently-held beliefs. Our whole-brain results showed that older adults recruited the hippocampus during the premise integration stage more than their younger counterparts. Functional connectivity using a hippocampal seed revealed that older, but not younger, adults recruited a hippocampal network that included anterior cingulate and inferior frontal regions when premises were believable. Importantly, this network contributed to better performance in believable inferences, only in older adults group. Further analyses suggested that, in older adults group, the integrity of the left cingulum bundle was associated with the higher rejection of believable premises more than unbelievable ones. Using multimodal imaging, this study highlights the importance of the hippocampus during premise integration and supports compensatory role of the hippocampal network during a logical reasoning task among older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Ziaei
- Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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32
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Cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex cancels out the cost of selective retrieval on subsequent analogical reasoning. Neuropsychologia 2020; 141:107431. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2019] [Revised: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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33
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Neural representations of transitive relations predict current and future math calculation skills in children. Neuropsychologia 2020; 141:107410. [PMID: 32097661 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2019] [Revised: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
A large body of evidence suggests that math learning in children is built upon innate mechanisms for representing numerical quantities in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Learning math, however, is about more than processing quantitative information. It is also about understanding relations between quantities and making inferences based on these relations. Consistent with this idea, recent behavioral studies suggest that the ability to process transitive relations (A > B, B > C, therefore A > C) may contribute to math skills in children. Here we used fMRI coupled with a longitudinal design to determine whether the neural processing of transitive relations in children could predict their current and future math skills. At baseline (T1), children (n = 31) processed transitive relations in an MRI scanner. Math skills were measured at T1 and again 1.5 years later (T2). Using a machine learning approach with cross-validation, we found that activity associated with the representation of transitive relations in the IPS predicted math calculation skills at both T1 and T2. Our study highlights the potential of neurobiological measures of transitive reasoning for forecasting math skills in children, providing additional evidence for a link between this type of reasoning and math learning.
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34
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Wertheim J, Ragni M. The Neurocognitive Correlates of Human Reasoning: A Meta-analysis of Conditional and Syllogistic Inferences. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 32:1061-1078. [PMID: 31951155 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Inferring knowledge is a core aspect of human cognition. We can form complex sentences connecting different pieces of information, such as in conditional statements like "if someone drinks alcohol, then they must be older than 18." These are relevant for causal reasoning about our environment and allow us to think about hypothetical scenarios. Another central aspect to forming complex statements is to quantify about sets, such as in "some apples are green." Reasoning in terms of the ability to form these statements is not yet fully understood, despite being an active field of interdisciplinary research. On a theoretical level, several conceptual frameworks have been proposed, predicting diverging brain activation patterns during the reasoning process. We present a meta-analysis comprising the results of 32 neuroimaging experiments about reasoning, which we subdivided by their structure, content, and requirement for world knowledge. In conditional tasks, we identified activation in the left middle and rostrolateral pFC and parietal regions, whereas syllogistic tasks elicit activation in Broca's complex, including the BG. Concerning the content differentiation, abstract tasks exhibit activation in the left inferior and rostrolateral pFC and inferior parietal regions, whereas content tasks are in the left superior pFC and parieto-occipital regions. The findings clarify the neurocognitive mechanisms of reasoning and exhibit clear distinctions between the task's type and content. Overall, we found that the activation differences clarify inconsistent results from accumulated data and serve as useful scaffolding differentiations for theory-driven interpretations of the neuroscientific correlates of human reasoning.
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35
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Andersson L, Eriksson J, Stillesjö S, Juslin P, Nyberg L, Wirebring LK. Neurocognitive processes underlying heuristic and normative probability judgments. Cognition 2019; 196:104153. [PMID: 31838247 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Revised: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Judging two events in combination (A&B) as more probable than one of the events (A) is known as a conjunction fallacy. According to dual-process explanations of human judgment and decision making, the fallacy is due to the application of a heuristic, associative cognitive process. Avoiding the fallacy has been suggested to require the recruitment of a separate process that can apply normative rules. We investigated these assumptions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during conjunction tasks. Judgments, whether correct or not, engaged a network of brain regions identical to that engaged during similarity judgments. Avoidance of the conjunction fallacy additionally, and uniquely, involved a fronto-parietal network previously linked to supervisory, analytic control processes. The results lend credibility to the idea that incorrect probability judgments are the result of a representativeness heuristic that requires additional neurocognitive resources to avoid.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Johan Eriksson
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Sweden; Umeå center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Sweden
| | - Sara Stillesjö
- Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden; Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Sweden; Umeå center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Sweden
| | - Peter Juslin
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Lars Nyberg
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Sweden; Umeå center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Sweden; Department of Radiation sciences, Umeå University, Sweden
| | - Linnea Karlsson Wirebring
- Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden; Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Sweden; Umeå center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Sweden
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36
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Ciorciari J, Gountas J, Johnston P, Crewther D, Hughes M. A Neuroimaging Study of Personality Traits and Self-Reflection. Behav Sci (Basel) 2019; 9:bs9110112. [PMID: 31694206 PMCID: PMC6912258 DOI: 10.3390/bs9110112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examines the blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activation of the brain associated with the four distinctive thinking styles associated with the four personality orientations of the Gountas Personality Orientations (GPO) survey: Emotion/Feeling-Action, Material/Pragmatic, Intuitive/Imaginative, and Thinking/Logical. The theoretical postulation is that each of the four personality orientations has a dominant (primary) thinking style and a shadow (secondary) thinking style/trait. The participants (N = 40) were initially surveyed to determine their dominant (primary) and secondary thinking styles. Based on participant responses, equal numbers of each dominant thinking style were selected for neuroimaging using a unique fMRI cognitive activation paradigm. The neuroimaging data support the general theoretical hypothesis of the existence of four different BOLD activation patterns, associated with each of the four thinking styles. The fMRI data analysis suggests that each thinking style may have its own cognitive activation system, involving the frontal ventromedial, posterior medial, parietal, motor, and orbitofrontal cortex. The data also suggest that there is a left hemisphere relationship for the Material/Pragmatic and Thinking/Logical styles and a right activation relationship for Emotional/Feeling and Intuitive/Imaginative styles. Additionally, the unique self-reflection paradigm demonstrated that perception of self or self-image, may be influenced by personality type; a finding of potentially far-reaching implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Ciorciari
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia;
- Correspondence:
| | - John Gountas
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Adjunct, Swinburne University of Technology and Department of Marketing, Adjunct University of Notre Dame Western Australia, Fremantle 6959, Australia;
| | - Patrick Johnston
- Faculty of Health, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia;
| | - David Crewther
- Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia;
| | - Matthew Hughes
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne 3122, Australia;
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Mevel K, Borst G, Poirel N, Simon G, Orliac F, Etard O, Houdé O, De Neys W. Developmental frontal brain activation differences in overcoming heuristic bias. Cortex 2019; 117:111-121. [PMID: 30959421 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Since reasoning is often biased by intuitive heuristics, the development of sound reasoning has long been postulated to depend on successful bias monitoring and inhibition. The present fMRI study aimed to identify neural correlates of developmental changes in these processes. A group of adults and young adolescents were presented with ratio-bias problems in which an intuitively cued heuristic response could be incongruent (conflict item) or congruent (no-conflict item) with the correct response. Results showed that successfully avoiding biased responding on conflict items across both age groups was associated with increased activation in Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) and the right Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (LPFC) regions of interest. Critically, the right LPFC activation decreased with age. Biased responding did not result in right LPFC or ACC modulation and failed to show any developmental activation changes. We discuss implications for ongoing debates on the nature of heuristic bias and its development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katell Mevel
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Sorbonne, CNRS UMR, 8240, Paris, France; Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Grégoire Borst
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Sorbonne, CNRS UMR, 8240, Paris, France; Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Poirel
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Sorbonne, CNRS UMR, 8240, Paris, France; Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Grégory Simon
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Sorbonne, CNRS UMR, 8240, Paris, France; Université de Normandie, ISTS, EA 7466, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - François Orliac
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Sorbonne, CNRS UMR, 8240, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Etard
- Université de Normandie, ISTS, EA 7466, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen, Service des Explorations Fonctionnelles du Système Nerveux, Caen, France
| | - Olivier Houdé
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Sorbonne, CNRS UMR, 8240, Paris, France; Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Wim De Neys
- Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Sorbonne, CNRS UMR, 8240, Paris, France; Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; CNRS, France.
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Groba A, De Houwer A, Obrig H, Rossi S. Bilingual and Monolingual First Language Acquisition Experience Differentially Shapes Children's Property Term Learning: Evidence from Behavioral and Neurophysiological Measures. Brain Sci 2019; 9:E40. [PMID: 30759804 PMCID: PMC6406634 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci9020040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of novel noun learning show bilingual children rely less on the Mutual Exclusivity Constraint (MEC) for word learning than monolinguals. Shifting the focus to learning novel property terms (adjectives), the present study compared 3.5- and five-year-old bilingual and monolingual preschoolers' adherence to the MEC. We found no bilingual-monolingual differences on a behavioral forced-choice task for the 3.5-year-olds, but five-year-old monolinguals adhered more to the MEC than bilinguals did. Older bilinguals adhered less to the MEC than younger ones, while there was no difference in MEC adherence between the younger and older monolinguals. In the 5-year-olds, we additionally acquired neurophysiological data using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to allow for a first explorative look at potential neuronal underpinnings. The data show that, compared to bilinguals, monolinguals reveal higher activation over three brain regions (right frontal, left temporo-parietal, and left prefrontal) that may be involved in exploiting the MEC, building on conflict detection, inhibition, solution of a disjunction, and working memory processes. Taken together, our behavioral and neurophysiological findings reveal different paths towards novel property term learning depending on children's language acquisition context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnes Groba
- Institute of Special Education, University of Leipzig, Marschnerstr. 29 e, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Linguistics, University of Erfurt, Nordhäuser Straße 63, 99089 Erfurt, Germany.
| | - Annick De Houwer
- Department of Linguistics, University of Erfurt, Nordhäuser Straße 63, 99089 Erfurt, Germany.
| | - Hellmuth Obrig
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
- Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Liebigstraße 16, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Sonja Rossi
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
- Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
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Goel V. Hemispheric asymmetry in the prefrontal cortex for complex cognition. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2019; 163:179-196. [PMID: 31590729 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-804281-6.00010-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
With the exception of language, hemispheric asymmetry has not historically been an important issue in the frontal lobe literature. Data generated over the past 20 years is forcing a reconsideration of this position. There is now considerable evidence to suggest that the left prefrontal cortex is an inference engine that automatically makes simple conceptual, logical, and causal connections to fill in missing information and eliminate uncertainty or indeterminacy. This is a fine-tuning of the "left hemisphere interpreter" account from the callosotomy patient literature. What is new is an understanding of the important contributions of the right prefrontal cortex to formal logical inference, conflict detection, and indeterminacy tolerance and maintenance. This chapter articulates these claims and reviews the data on which they are based. The chapter concludes by speculating that the inference capabilities of the left prefrontal cortex are built into the very fabric of language and can be accounted for by the left hemisphere dominance for language. The roles of the right PFC require multiple mechanisms for explanation. Its role in formal inference may be a function of its visual-spatial processing capabilities. Its role in conflict detection may be explained as a system for checking for consistency between existing beliefs and new information coming into the system and inferences drawn from beliefs and/or new information. There are at least three possible mechanisms to account for its role in indeterminacy tolerance. First, it could contain a representational system with properties very different from those of language, and an accompanying inference engine. Second, it could just contain this different representational system, and the information is at some point passed back to the left prefrontal cortex for inference. Third, the role of the right prefrontal cortex may be largely preventative. That is, it doesn't provide alternative representational and inference capabilities but simply prevents the left prefrontal cortex from settling on initial, local inferences. The current data do not allow differentiating between these possibilities. Successful real-world functioning requires the participation of both hemispheres.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinod Goel
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.
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40
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Abstract
Executive functions (EFs) include high-order cognitive abilities such as working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, planning, reasoning, and problem solving. EFs enable humans to achieve goals, adapt to novel everyday life situations, and manage social interactions. Traditionally EFs have been associated with frontal lobe functioning. More recent evidence shows that posterior and subcortical regions also play a crucial role in EF processing, especially in the integration of sensory information and emotion. This chapter reviews the variety of EFs and their neural underpinning, based on lesion mapping and neuroimaging studies, as well as the evidence for rehabilitation interventions, neuropsychological assessment based on standard and ecologically valid tests, development, and genetic predisposition for recovery of executive functions after brain injury. Taken together, the EFs are critical for unique human abilities and more careful analyses of their subcomponents may help the development of targeted translational interventions to improve them.
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Wirebring LK, Stillesjö S, Eriksson J, Juslin P, Nyberg L. A Similarity-Based Process for Human Judgment in the Parietal Cortex. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:481. [PMID: 30631267 PMCID: PMC6315133 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2018] [Accepted: 11/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
One important distinction in psychology is between inferences based on associative memory and inferences based on analysis and rules. Much previous empirical work conceive of associative and analytical processes as two exclusive ways of addressing a judgment task, where only one process is selected and engaged at a time, in an either-or fashion. However, related work indicate that the processes are better understood as being in interplay and simultaneously engaged. Based on computational modeling and brain imaging of spontaneously adopted judgment strategies together with analyses of brain activity elicited in tasks where participants were explicitly instructed to perform similarity-based associative judgments or rule-based judgments (n = 74), we identified brain regions related to the two types of processes. We observed considerable overlap in activity patterns. The precuneus was activated for both types of judgments, and its activity predicted how well a similarity-based model fit the judgments. Activity in the superior frontal gyrus predicted the fit of a rule-based judgment model. The results suggest the precuneus as a key node for similarity-based judgments, engaged both when overt responses are guided by similarity-based and rule-based processes. These results are interpreted such that similarity-based processes are engaged in parallel to rule-based-processes, a finding with direct implications for cognitive theories of judgment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linnea Karlsson Wirebring
- Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Sara Stillesjö
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Johan Eriksson
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Peter Juslin
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Lars Nyberg
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
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42
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Putting the pieces together: Generating a novel representational space through deductive reasoning. Neuroimage 2018; 183:99-111. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
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Wertheim J, Ragni M. The Neural Correlates of Relational Reasoning: A Meta-analysis of 47 Functional Magnetic Resonance Studies. J Cogn Neurosci 2018; 30:1734-1748. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
It is a core cognitive ability of humans to represent and reason about relational information, such as “the train station is north of the hotel” or “Charles is richer than Jim.” However, the neural processes underlying the ability to draw conclusions about relations are still not sufficiently understood. Central open questions are as follows: (1) What are the neural correlates of relational reasoning? (2) Where can deductive and inductive reasoning be localized? (3) What is the impact of different informational types on cerebral activity? For that, we conducted a meta-analysis of 47 neuroimaging studies. We found activation of the frontoparietal network during both deductive and inductive reasoning, with additional activation in an extended network during inductive reasoning in the basal ganglia and the inferior parietal cortex. Analyses revealed a double dissociation concerning the lateral and medial Brodmann's area 6 during deductive and inductive reasoning, indicating differences in terms of processing verbal information in deductive and spatial information in inductive tasks. During semantic and symbolic tasks, the frontoparietal network was found active, whereas geometric tasks only elicited prefrontal activation, which can be explained by the reduced demand for the construction of a mental representation in geometric tasks. Our study provides new insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying relational reasoning and clarifies previous controversies concerning involved brain areas.
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Schwartz F, Epinat-Duclos J, Léone J, Poisson A, Prado J. Impaired neural processing of transitive relations in children with math learning difficulty. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2018; 20:1255-1265. [PMID: 30389345 PMCID: PMC6308383 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Math learning difficulty (i.e., MLD) is common in children and can have far-reaching consequences in personal and professional life. Converging evidence suggests that MLD is associated with impairments in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). However, the role that these impairments play in MLD remains unclear. Although it is often assumed that IPS deficits affect core numerical abilities, the IPS is also involved in several non-numerical processes that may contribute to math skills. For instance, the IPS supports transitive reasoning (i.e., the ability to integrate relations such as A > B and B > C to infer that A > C), a skill that is central to many aspects of math learning in children. Here we measured fMRI activity of 8- to 12-year-olds with MLD and typically developing (TD) peers while they listened to stories that included transitive relations. Children also answered questions evaluating whether transitive inferences were made during story comprehension. Compared to non-transitive relations (e.g., A > B and C > D), listening to transitive relations (e.g., A > B and B > C) was associated with enhanced activity in the IPS in TD children. In children with MLD, the difference in activity between transitive and non-transitive relations in the IPS was (i) non-reliable and (ii) smaller than in TD children. Finally, children with MLD were less accurate than TD peers when making transitive inferences based on transitive relations. Thus, a deficit in the online processing of transitive relations in the IPS might contribute to math difficulties in children with MLD. Transitive reasoning is central to mathematical thinking. Transitive reasoning relies on the intra-parietal sulcus (IPS) in healthy children. Math learning difficulty (MLD) is associated with IPS impairments. Transitive reasoning is impaired in children with MLD. Transitive reasoning does not engage the IPS in children with MLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flora Schwartz
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) & Université de Lyon, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 Bron cedex, France.
| | - Justine Epinat-Duclos
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) & Université de Lyon, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 Bron cedex, France
| | - Jessica Léone
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) & Université de Lyon, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 Bron cedex, France
| | - Alice Poisson
- GénoPsy, Reference center for rare diseases with psychiatric symptoms, Centre Hospitalier le Vinatier, 69678 Bron cedex, France
| | - Jérôme Prado
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) & Université de Lyon, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 Bron cedex, France.
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Guerra-Carrillo BC, Bunge SA. Eye gaze patterns reveal how reasoning skills improve with experience. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2018; 3:18. [PMID: 30631479 PMCID: PMC6220245 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-018-0035-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Revised: 09/15/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Reasoning, our ability to solve novel problems, has been shown to improve as a result of learning experiences. However, the underlying mechanisms of change in this high-level cognitive ability are unclear. We hypothesized that possible mechanisms include improvements in the encoding, maintenance, and/or integration of relations among mental representations - i.e., relational thinking. Here, we developed several eye gaze metrics to pinpoint learning mechanisms that underpin improved reasoning performance. We collected behavioral and eyetracking data from young adults who participated in a Law School Admission Test preparation course involving word-based reasoning problems or reading comprehension. The Reasoning group improved more than the Comprehension group on a composite measure of four visuospatial reasoning assessments. Both groups improved similarly on an eyetracking paradigm involving transitive inference problems, exhibiting faster response times while maintaining high accuracy levels; nevertheless, the Reasoning group exhibited a larger change than the Comprehension group on an ocular metric of relational thinking. Across the full sample, individual differences in response time reductions were associated with increased efficiency of relational thinking. Accounting for changes in visual search and a more specific measure of relational integration improved the prediction accuracy of the model, but changes in these two processes alone did not adequately explain behavioral improvements. These findings provide evidence of transfer of learning across different kinds of reasoning problems after completing a brief but intensive course. More broadly, the high temporal precision and rich derivable parameters of eyetracking make it a powerful approach for probing learning mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belén C. Guerra-Carrillo
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Silvia A. Bunge
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
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Modroño C, Navarrete G, Nicolle A, González-Mora JL, Smith KW, Marling M, Goel V. Developmental grey matter changes in superior parietal cortex accompany improved transitive reasoning. THINKING & REASONING 2018; 25:151-170. [PMID: 31057331 PMCID: PMC6474737 DOI: 10.1080/13546783.2018.1481144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2017] [Revised: 03/12/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The neural basis of developmental changes in transitive reasoning in parietal regions was examined, using voxel-based morphometry. Young adolescents and adults performed a transitive reasoning task, subsequent to undergoing anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans. Behaviorally, adults reasoned more accurately than did the young adolescents. Neural results showed (i) less grey matter density in superior parietal cortex in the adults than in the young adolescents, possibly due to a developmental period of synaptic pruning; (ii) improved performance in the reasoning task was negatively correlated with grey matter density in superior parietal cortex in the adolescents, but not in the adult group; and (iii) the latter results were driven by the more difficult trials, requiring greater spatial manipulation. Taken together, the results support the idea that during development, regions in superior parietal cortex are fine-tuned, to support more robust spatial manipulation, resulting in greater accuracy and efficiency in transitive reasoning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristián Modroño
- Departamento de Ciencias Médicas Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias de La Salud, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Campus de Ofra, San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife), España, Spain
| | - Gorka Navarrete
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | | | - José Luis González-Mora
- Departamento de Ciencias Médicas Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias de La Salud, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Campus de Ofra, San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife), España, Spain
| | - Kathleen W Smith
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Miriam Marling
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Vinod Goel
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Ardila A, Bernal B, Rosselli M. Executive Functions Brain System: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-analytic Study. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2018; 33:379-405. [PMID: 28961762 DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acx066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 07/01/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and objective To characterize commonalities and differences between two executive functions: reasoning and inhibitory control. Methods A total of 5,974 participants in 346 fMRI experiments of inhibition or reasoning were selected. First level analysis consisted of Analysis of Likelihood Estimation (ALE) studies performed in two pooled data groups: (a) brain areas involved in reasoning and (b) brain areas involved in inhibition. Second level analysis consisted of two contrasts: (i) brain areas involved in reasoning but not in inhibition and (ii) brain areas involved in inhibition but not in reasoning. Lateralization Indexes were calculated. Results Four brain areas appear as the most critical: the dorsolateral aspect of the frontal lobes, the superior parietal lobules, the mesial aspect of the premotor area (supplementary motor area), and some subcortical areas, particularly the putamen and the thalamus. ALE contrasts showed significant differentiation of the networks, with the reasoning > inhibition-contrast showing a predominantly leftward participation, and the inhibition > reasoning-contrast, a clear right advantage. Conclusion Executive functions are mediated by sizable brain areas including not only cortical, but also involving subcortical areas in both hemispheres. The strength of activation shows dissociation between the hemispheres for inhibition (rightward) and reasoning (leftward) functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Ardila
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Byron Bernal
- Department of Radiology/Brain Institute, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Monica Rosselli
- Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL, USA
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Baron-Cohen S, Lombardo MV. Autism and talent: the cognitive and neural basis of systemizing. DIALOGUES IN CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE 2018. [PMID: 29398930 PMCID: PMC5789212 DOI: 10.31887/dcns.2017.19.4/sbaroncohen] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
In 2003, we proposed the hypersystemizing theory of autism. The theory proposes that the human mind possesses a systemizing mechanism (SM) that helps identify lawful regularities (often causal) that govern the input-operation-output workings of a system. The SM can be tuned to different levels, from low to high, with a normal distribution of individual differences in how strongly people search for such input-operation-out-put regularities in any data that is systemizable. Evidence suggests that people with autism are on average hypersystemizers, scoring higher than average on the systemizing quotient and on performance tests of systemizing. In this article, we consider the neural basis behind the SM, since there has been little consideration of the brain basis of systemizing. Finally, we discuss directions for future work in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Michael V Lombardo
- Department of Psychology, Center for Applied Neuroscience, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
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Bartley JE, Boeving ER, Riedel MC, Bottenhorn KL, Salo T, Eickhoff SB, Brewe E, Sutherland MT, Laird AR. Meta-analytic evidence for a core problem solving network across multiple representational domains. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 92:318-337. [PMID: 29944961 PMCID: PMC6425494 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Revised: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Problem solving is a complex skill engaging multi-stepped reasoning processes to find unknown solutions. The breadth of real-world contexts requiring problem solving is mirrored by a similarly broad, yet unfocused neuroimaging literature, and the domain-general or context-specific brain networks associated with problem solving are not well understood. To more fully characterize those brain networks, we performed activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis on 280 neuroimaging problem solving experiments reporting 3166 foci from 1919 individuals across 131 papers. The general map of problem solving revealed broad fronto-cingulo-parietal convergence, regions similarly identified when considering separate mathematical, verbal, and visuospatial problem solving domain-specific analyses. Conjunction analysis revealed a common network supporting problem solving across diverse contexts, and difference maps distinguished functionally-selective sub-networks specific to task type. Our results suggest cooperation between representationally specialized sub-network and whole-brain systems provide a neural basis for problem solving, with the core network contributing general purpose resources to perform cognitive operations and manage problem demand. Further characterization of cross-network dynamics could inform neuroeducational studies on problem solving skill development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Bartley
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Emily R Boeving
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Michael C Riedel
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | | | - Taylor Salo
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behavior (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Eric Brewe
- Department of Teaching and Learning, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA; Department of Physics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Education, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Angela R Laird
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
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50
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Schwartz F, Epinat-Duclos J, Noveck I, Prado J. The neural development of pragmatic inference-making in natural discourse. Dev Sci 2018; 21:e12678. [PMID: 30028059 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Older interlocutors are more likely than younger ones to make pragmatic inferences, that is, inferences that go beyond the linguistically encoded meaning of a sentence. Here we ask whether pragmatic development is associated with increased activity in brain structures associated with inference-making or in those associated with Theory of Mind. We employed a reading task that presents vignettes in one of two versions, one of which is expected to prompt more pragmatic processing. Both versions present a major premise containing three possibilities (e.g., Xavier is considering Thursday, Friday or Saturday for inviting his girlfriend out). In the Fully-Deductive (control) condition, the major premise is followed by two disjunction-elimination premises through two separate lines (one indicating that Saturday is not convenient and another saying that Thursday is not convenient); this is followed by a valid conclusion (e.g., "I'll reserve Friday"). In the Implicated-Premise condition, the first disjunction-elimination premise is followed by a second similar one that eliminates the same disjunction (e.g., both lines explain why Saturday is not convenient). In this condition, readers may pragmatically enrich the conclusion (i.e., "I'll reserve Friday" pragmatically implicates that Xavier is also eliminating Thursday from consideration). Reading times in Experiment 1 showed that processing the speaker's conclusion in the Implicated-Premise condition becomes increasingly more effort-demanding as readers reach adolescence. Experiment 2 showed that this developmental pattern is related to age-related increases in fMRI activity in fronto-parietal regions typically involved in inference-making processes. We found no evidence indicating age effects related to Theory of Mind areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flora Schwartz
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod - UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Justine Epinat-Duclos
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod - UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Ira Noveck
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod - UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Jérôme Prado
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod - UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
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