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Related Concept Videos

Cerebral Hemispheres01:05

Cerebral Hemispheres

The human brain, a complex organ, is functionally divided into two cerebral hemispheres—left and right. These hemispheres are interconnected by a structure of paramount importance, the corpus callosum. This substantial bundle of neural fibers is not just a bridge between the hemispheres but a crucial element for the brain's comprehensive functioning. It enables efficient communication between the two hemispheres, allowing each side of the brain to control and receive sensory and motor...
Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.
Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory01:14

Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory

The cerebellum, while traditionally associated with motor control, also plays a crucial role in memory, particularly in procedural memory, which involves learning motor tasks that become automatic through repetition. For example, studies have shown that when the cerebellum is damaged, individuals or animals lose the ability to learn conditioned motor responses, such as the conditioned eye-blink response in classical conditioning experiments with rabbits. This study demonstrates the cerebellum's...
Lobes of the Cerebrum01:22

Lobes of the Cerebrum

The cerebral cortex, a critical structure of the brain, is intricately divided into two hemispheres, each consisting of four distinct lobes: occipital, temporal, frontal, and parietal. These lobes function cooperatively to regulate various cognitive and sensory functions, forming the basis of our complex neural capabilities.
Frontal lobe
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Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
Reason and Intuition01:37

Reason and Intuition

The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the brain can only use...

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Related Experiment Video

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Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
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Hemispheric specialization in human prefrontal cortex for resolving certain and uncertain inferences.

Vinod Goel1, Michael Tierney, Laura Sheesley

  • 1Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. vgoel@yorku.ca

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|December 13, 2006
PubMed
Summary

The right prefrontal cortex (PFC) is crucial for decision-making under uncertainty. This study shows left PFC damage impairs reasoning with complete information, while right PFC damage impairs reasoning with incomplete information.

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Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Decision Science

Background:

  • Decision-making in real-world scenarios often involves uncertainty.
  • The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is implicated in decision-making, with the right PFC hypothesized to play a special role in uncertainty.
  • Limited empirical data exists to support the specific roles of left and right PFC in reasoning under varying information completeness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the distinct roles of the left and right prefrontal cortex (PFC) in reasoning and decision-making.
  • To examine how information completeness (complete vs. incomplete) affects performance in individuals with lateralized PFC lesions.
  • To provide empirical evidence for hemispheric specialization within the PFC for different reasoning conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Administered simple inference problems to 18 patients with focal lateralized PFC lesions (9 right, 9 left) and 22 healthy controls.
  • Systematically varied the completeness of information presented in the inference problems.
  • Compared performance accuracy between patient groups and controls across different information conditions.

Main Results:

  • A significant two-way interaction was observed between lesion side and information completeness.
  • Patients with left PFC lesions showed impairments specifically on trials with complete information.
  • Patients with right PFC lesions demonstrated selective impairment on trials with incomplete information.

Conclusions:

  • The findings provide strong evidence for hemispheric specialization in reasoning within the PFC.
  • The right PFC plays a critical role in reasoning about situations with incomplete information.
  • This right PFC function may involve maintaining ambiguous mental representations to prevent premature interpretation by the left hemisphere.