Open AccessReversed hierarchy in the brain for general and specific cognitive abilities: A morphometric analysis
Author(s) -
Román Francisco J.,
Abad Francisco J.,
Escorial Sergio,
Burgaleta Miguel,
Martínez Kenia,
ÁlvarezLinera Juan,
Quiroga María Ángeles,
Karama Sherif,
Haier Richard J.,
Colom Roberto
Publication year - 2014
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.22438
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , gray (unit) , cognitive psychology , generality , wechsler adult intelligence scale , hierarchy , brain morphometry , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , brain size , cognitive test , fluid and crystallized intelligence , set (abstract data type) , developmental psychology , neuroscience , working memory , fluid intelligence , computer science , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , economics , market economy , radiology , psychotherapist , programming language
Intelligence is composed of a set of cognitive abilities hierarchically organized. General and specific abilities capture distinguishable, but related, facets of the intelligence construct. Here, we analyze gray matter with three morphometric indices (volume, cortical surface area, and cortical thickness) at three levels of the intelligence hierarchy (tests, first‐order factors, and a higher‐order general factor, g ). A group of one hundred and four healthy young adults completed a cognitive battery and underwent high‐resolution structural MRI. Latent scores were computed for the intelligence factors and tests were also analyzed. The key finding reveals substantial variability in gray matter correlates at the test level, which is substantially reduced for the first‐order and the higher‐order factors. This supports a reversed hierarchy in the brain with respect to cognitive abilities at different psychometric levels: the greater the generality, the smaller the number of relevant gray matter clusters accounting for individual differences in intelligent performance. Hum Brain Mapp 35:3805–3818, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .