Frontal and Parietal Lobe Activation during Transitive Inference in Humans

Author： Acuna B.D. Eliassen J.C. Donoghue J.P. Sanes J.N.

ISSN： 1460-2199

Source： Cerebral Cortex, Vol.12, Iss.12, 2002-12, pp. : 1312-1321

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Abstract

Cortical areas engaged in knowledge manipulation during reasoning were identified with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while participants performed transitive inference (TI) on an ordered list of 11 items (e.g. if A < b="" and="" b="">< c,="" then="" a="">< c).="" initially,="" participants="" learned="" a="" list="" of="" arbitrarily="" ordered="" visual="" shapes.="" learning="" occurred="" by="" exposure="" to="" pairs="" of="" list="" items="" that="" were="" adjacent="" in="" the="" sequence.="" subsequently,="" functional="" mr="" images="" were="" acquired="" as="" participants="" performed="" ti="" on="" non-adjacent="" sequence="" items.="" control="" tasks="" consisted="" of="" height="" comparisons="" (ht)="" and="" passive="" viewing="" (vis).="" comparison="" of="" the="" ti="" task="" with="" the="" ht="" task="" identified="" activation="" resulting="" from="" ti,="" termed="" ‘reasoning’,="" while="" controlling="" for="" rule="" application,="" decision="" processes,="" perception,="" and="" movement,="" collectively="" termed="" ‘support="" processes’.="" the="" ht–vis="" comparison="" revealed="" activation="" related="" to="" support="" processes.="" the="" ti="" reasoning="" network="" included="" bilateral="" prefrontal="" cortex="" (pfc),="" pre-supplementary="" motor="" area="" (presma),="" premotor="" area="" (pma),="" insula,="" precuneus,="" and="" lateral="" posterior="" parietal="" cortex.="" by="" contrast,="" cortical="" regions="" activated="" by="" support="" processes="" included="" the="" bilateral="" supplementary="" motor="" area="" (sma),="" primary="" motor="" cortex="" (m1),="" somatic="" sensory="" cortices,="" and="" right="" pma.="" these="" results="" emphasize="" the="" role="" of="" a="" prefrontal–parietal="" network="" in="" manipulating="" information="" to="" form="" new="" knowledge="" based="" on="" familiar="" facts.="" the="" findings="" also="" demonstrate="" pfc="" activation="" beyond="" short-term="" memory="" to="" include="" mental="" operations="" associated="" with="" reasoning.="">