Connecting the dots: Exploring brain connectivity during responsibility recognition in construction contract...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Legal Studies

Background:

• Understanding the neural basis of legal text interpretation, particularly responsibility identification in contracts, is crucial.
• Previous research has focused on brain activity monitoring but lacked causal relationship insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the neural mechanisms and causal brain connectivity during responsibility identification in construction contracts.
• To investigate the cognitive processes involved in reading and interpreting contract text.

Main Methods:

• Utilized electroencephalography (EEG) data from 18 participants performing a contract responsibility-identification task.
• Employed an adaptive directed transfer function based on Granger causality to analyze directed, time-varying brain information flow.
• Compared EEG data under conditions with and without contractor responsibility clauses.

Main Results:

• Significant information exchange during responsibility identification was observed in the somatosensory cortex.
• A top-down cortical mechanism was identified, with the left parietal-occipital area (PO3) acting as a central hub.
• Contracts lacking contractor responsibility clauses showed greater information flow in the frontal cortex, indicating higher cognitive resource consumption.

Conclusions:

• Perceptual processing of contract responsibility is linked to enhanced visual learning and memory.
• The findings provide a framework for understanding causal brain relationships in legal cognition.
• Insights into the neural basis of responsibility identification can inform training for contract interpretation and negotiation.