Toward neuroanatomical models of analogy: a positron emission tomography study of analogical mapping

Several brain regions associated with analogical mapping were identified using (15)O-positron emission tomography with 12 normal, high intelligence adults. Each trial presented during scanning consisted of a source picture of colored geometric shapes, a brief delay, and a target picture of colored geometric shapes. Analogous pictures did not share similar geometric shapes but did share the same system of abstract visuospatial relations. Participants judged whether each source-target pairing was analogous (analogy condition) or identical (literal condition). The results of the analogy-literal comparison showed activation in the dorsomedial frontal cortex and in the left hemisphere; the inferior, middle, and medial frontal cortices; the parietal cortex; and the superior occipital cortex. Based on these results as well as evidence from relevant cognitive neuroscience studies of reasoning and of executive working memory, we hypothesize that analogical mapping is mediated by the left prefrontal and inferior parietal cortices.