Scientists at UCL and UCLH have identified the brain regions vital for logical thinking and problem-solving. This breakthrough could revolutionize diagnosis and treatment of reasoning impairments.
A recent study led by a team of researchers at University College London (UCL) and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) has identified the key brain regions essential for logical thinking and problem-solving. This discovery, published in the journal Brain, propels our understanding of the neural mechanisms underpinning human reasoning.
The researchers employed a technique known as lesion-deficit mapping, which involves studying patients with brain lesions caused by strokes or tumors.
By analyzing 247 patients with unilateral focal brain lesions in either the left or right frontal or posterior regions, alongside an additional 81 healthy individuals as controls, the study offers robust insights into the brain’s functioning.
Joseph Mole, from UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Department of Neuropsychology at UCLH, led the study.
“Our study explores how the front right part of the brain helps people think and solve new problems,” he said in a news release. “It also shows that our two new tests can help detect reasoning problems in individuals with brain damage, improving diagnosis and treatment.”
To assess the reasoning abilities of the participants, the research team developed two innovative tests. These included a verbal analogical reasoning task and a nonverbal deductive reasoning task.
The results revealed that patients with damage to the right frontal lobe performed significantly worse on both tests, making about 15% more mistakes than other patients and healthy individuals.
Senior author Lisa Cipolotti, a professor at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Department of Neuropsychology, UCLH, emphasized the importance of these findings.
“By combining a detailed cognitive investigation in a large sample of brain damaged patients with advanced lesion mapping techniques – developed by Professor Parashkev Nachev and his team at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology – we have deepened our understanding of the complex and, so far, poorly understood neural structures underlying human reasoning,” she said in the news release.
“Our findings show a close connection between the right frontal brain network involved in reasoning and the right frontal brain network essential for fluid intelligence (our ability to solve problems without prior experience). This suggests that a common area of the brain plays a critical role in both reasoning and fluid intelligence,” she added.
The clinical implications of this study are substantial, according to the researchers. With further validation, the new reasoning tests could become widely available within the National Health Service (NHS), addressing the critical need for tools designed to assess right frontal lobe dysfunction.
Source: University College London