Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 12, 2025

Using Informational Connectivity to Measure the Synchronous Emergence of fMRI Multi-voxel Information Across Time
Published on: July 1, 2014
Integrated Intelligence from Distributed Brain Activity
John Duncan1, Moataz Assem2, Sneha Shashidhara2
1MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK.
None:
How does organized cognition arise from distributed brain activity? Recent analyses of fluid intelligence suggest a core process of cognitive focus and integration, organizing the components of a cognitive operation into the required computational structure. A cortical 'multiple-demand' (MD) system is closely linked to fluid intelligence, and recent imaging data define nine specific MD patches distributed across frontal, parietal, and occipitotemporal cortex. Wide cortical distribution, relative functional specialization, and strong connectivity suggest a basis for cognitive integration, matching electrophysiological evidence for binding of cognitive operations to their contents. Though still only in broad outline, these data suggest how distributed brain activity can build complex, organized cognition.
Related Concept Videos
Integration of Synaptic Events
Organization of the Brain
Hindbrain
The hindbrain, located at the base of the brain, plays a vital role in regulating automatic processes that sustain life. It includes the medulla oblongata, which is essential for...
Brain Imaging
These technologies include computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT scans), positron-emission tomography (PET scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and Transcranial Magnetic...
Parallel Processing
Cerebral Hemispheres

