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Abstract:
Abstract: Three major schools of thinking try to explain
human spatial reasoning: (1) mental logic theories claim syntactic
language-like proofs of derivation; (2) mental model theory
proposes semantic processes of constructing and manipulating
spatially organized mental models and (3) imagery theories
postulate that such abilities are based on mental images. To
explore the neural substrates of spatial thinking we examined BOLD
(blood oxygen level dependent) contrast in the cortex of 12 healthy
subjects during spatial and non-spatial reasoning (and a baseline
condition) with full-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI). Because we were interested in the pattern of activation in
visual and spatial areas of the brain, tasks were presented
auditorily via a pneumatic headphone. Each task consisted of two
premises and a conclusion, which subjects had to verify by pressing
associated buttons on a response box. We found significant
activation in prefrontal cortex (BA9, BA6, BA32) for both reasoning
tasks, whereas reliable activation in parietal cortex (BA40, BA7)
was found only during spatial reasoning tasks. In this condition
there was also activity in extra-striate cortex (BA19) but this did
not reach statistical reliability. Even if this result does not per
se falsify imagery approaches it fits more easily with mental
models theory and is hard to explain based on language-based mental
proofs.
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