Open AccessConditional and syllogistic deductive tasks dissociate functionally during premise integration
Author(s) -
Reverberi Carlo,
Cherubini Paolo,
Frackowiak Richard S.J.,
Caltagirone Carlo,
Paulesu Eraldo,
Macaluso Emiliano
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.20947
Subject(s) - syllogism , deductive reasoning , premise , psychology , inference , encoding (memory) , cognitive psychology , cognition , inductive reasoning , artificial intelligence , computer science , neuroscience , linguistics , philosophy
Deduction allows us to draw consequences from previous knowledge. Deductive reasoning can be applied to several types of problem, for example, conditional, syllogistic, and relational. It has been assumed that the same cognitive operations underlie solutions to them all; however, this hypothesis remains to be tested empirically. We used event‐related fMRI, in the same group of subjects, to compare reasoning‐related activity associated with conditional and syllogistic deductive problems. Furthermore, we assessed reasoning‐related activity for the two main stages of deduction, namely encoding of premises and their integration. Encoding syllogistic premises for reasoning was associated with activation of BA 44/45 more than encoding them for literal recall. During integration, left fronto‐lateral cortex (BA 44/45, 6) and basal ganglia activated with both conditional and syllogistic reasoning. Besides that, integration of syllogistic problems additionally was associated with activation of left parietal (BA 7) and left ventro‐lateral frontal cortex (BA 47). This difference suggests a dissociation between conditional and syllogistic reasoning at the integration stage. Our finding indicates that the integration of conditional and syllogistic reasoning is carried out by means of different, but partly overlapping, sets of anatomical regions and by inference, cognitive processes. The involvement of BA 44/45 during both encoding (syllogisms) and premise integration (syllogisms and conditionals) suggests a central role in deductive reasoning for syntactic manipulations and formal/linguistic representations. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.