Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Systemizing influences attentional processes during the Navon task: an fMRI study.

Jac Billington1, Simon Baron-Cohen, Daniel Bor

  • 1Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge CB2 8AH, UK. jb434@cam.ac.uk

Neuropsychologia
|October 30, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Synergistic and redundant information dynamics are modulated by Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Informational complexity as a neural marker of cognitive reserve.

Brain and cognition·2026
Same author

Modelling cognitive load using drift-diffusion models in pedestrian street-crossing: a method supported by neural evidence.

Accident; analysis and prevention·2025
Same author

Null models for comparing information decomposition across complex systems.

PLoS computational biology·2025
Same author

Streamlined Heart Failure Optimization Protocol for Patients With Reduced Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction: Insights From the SHORT Trial.

JACC. Heart failure·2025
Same author

Toward a unified taxonomy of information dynamics via Integrated Information Decomposition.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Individuals with high systemizing ability, characterized by analyzing system rules, show neural differences in attention. This study links the Systemizing Quotient (SQ) to brain activity during tasks requiring focus on local details.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Individual Differences

Background:

  • Systemizing ability, the drive to understand rule-based systems, varies across individuals.
  • A high systemizing style involves proficiency in analyzing system rules and predicting system behavior.
  • Previous research suggests systemizing may relate to attentional styles, but neural underpinnings are unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neural correlates of systemizing ability using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
  • To examine whether individuals with a high systemizing style exhibit an attentional bias towards local details.
  • To explore the relationship between Systemizing Quotient (SQ) scores and brain activation patterns during a visual attention task.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Utilized fMRI to scan participants with a range of Systemizing Quotient (SQ) scores.
  • Administered a Navon task, presenting stimuli with conflicting local and global features, to elicit perceptual conflict.
  • Correlated behavioral performance and fMRI data with individual SQ scores.

    • Main Results:

    • Behavioral data showed a correlation between higher SQ scores and a focus on local details.
    • During conditions of perceptual conflict, higher SQ scores were associated with increased activation in lateral prefrontal, parietal, and extrastriate visual cortices.
    • No direct neural correlate for systemizing during local processing itself was identified.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings suggest that systemizing ability is associated with specific neural activation patterns, particularly in attention-demanding situations.
    • Heightened ability to maintain an attentional set may underlie the observed neural correlates in individuals with a high systemizing cognitive style.
    • This study provides the first neural evidence linking systemizing to attentional processing, opening avenues for future research.