Brain area responsible for problem solving finally identified
Fluid intelligence is thought to be a key feature involved in “active thinking” – a set of complex mental processes involved in abstraction.
Fluid intelligence is thought to be a key feature involved in “active thinking” – a set of complex mental processes such as those involved in abstraction. (CREDIT: CC BY-SA 3.0)
To understand which parts of the brain are necessary for certain cognitive abilities, researchers need to study individuals with damage or absence in specific areas of the brain. This type of research, known as “lesion-deficit mapping,” involves assessing how damage to particular brain regions affects different functions.
However, it has traditionally been difficult to carry out because finding patients with well-defined brain injuries and testing them comprehensively is a significant challenge.
As a result, many earlier studies on this topic have relied on functional imaging techniques like fMRI. These methods have limitations and can sometimes be misleading when it comes to pinpointing the exact regions responsible for certain cognitive abilities.
In a recent study, researchers from the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at UCLH addressed this challenge. They conducted research with 227 patients who had either brain tumors or strokes affecting specific regions of the brain.
The findings, published in the journal Brain, provide new insights into fluid intelligence and how specific parts of the brain contribute to it.
Fluid intelligence refers to the capacity to solve problems and think abstractly, particularly in novel situations. To assess this, the researchers used the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), a well-established test for measuring fluid intelligence. This test presents participants with progressively challenging visual puzzles. Each puzzle displays an incomplete pattern of geometric figures, and participants must select the missing piece from several choices.
In addition to the APM, the researchers used a novel approach for mapping the connections between brain injuries and deficits.
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This approach focused on understanding how different brain areas are interconnected and how damage affects these connections, providing a clearer picture of how cognitive functions are distributed in the brain. Essentially, they treated the relationships between different regions of the brain as a network. This allowed them to observe how damage in specific parts, like those caused by stroke, correlated with problems in fluid intelligence.
By using this new "lesion-deficit mapping" approach, the researchers could separate the patterns of brain damage from the cognitive abilities being assessed. This technique enabled them to determine which areas of the brain were most critical for fluid intelligence. They found that impairments in fluid intelligence were primarily associated with damage to the right frontal lobe.
This finding is significant because it challenges previous notions that fluid intelligence depends on a wide array of brain regions. Instead, the study highlights that the right frontal regions play a crucial role in high-level cognitive functions like problem-solving and reasoning.
Damage to the right frontal lobe, as identified in the study, is not only seen in stroke and brain tumors but is also common in other neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury and dementia. These findings could have significant implications for how clinicians assess and treat patients with such conditions.
Professor Lisa Cipolotti, the lead author of the study from the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, explained, "Our findings indicate for the first time that the right frontal regions of the brain are critical to the high-level functions involved in fluid intelligence, such as problem-solving and reasoning. This supports the use of APM in a clinical setting as a way of assessing fluid intelligence and identifying right frontal lobe dysfunction."
The researchers emphasize that their novel combination of lesion-deficit mapping with the APM test in a large group of patients provides valuable insights into the neural underpinnings of fluid intelligence. Understanding which parts of the brain are critical for specific cognitive abilities is key to improving the treatment of neurological disorders.
The results suggest that more emphasis should be placed on studies involving brain lesions to better understand the relationship between brain structure and cognitive functions.
The study was funded by Wellcome and the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre funding scheme, with additional support from The National Brain Appeal and the Guarantors of Brain. This backing allowed the team to conduct a thorough and large-scale investigation, advancing our knowledge of how specific brain injuries impact problem-solving and other cognitive abilities.
Ultimately, the findings from this research could lead to improved diagnostics and treatment plans for individuals with neurological conditions. By using tools like the APM in clinical settings, doctors can better identify and address impairments in fluid intelligence, leading to more targeted interventions for conditions that affect the right frontal lobe.
The study underscores the importance of focusing on the exact regions of the brain affected by injury rather than assuming broad cognitive impairments arise from damage spread across different areas. As a result, these findings pave the way for more refined and individualized treatment approaches, contributing to the overall goal of better patient outcomes in neurological care.
Note: Materials provided above by The Brighter Side of News. Content may be edited for style and length.
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