The cortical thickness of the area PF of the left inferior parietal cortex mediates technical-reasoning skills

Most recent research highlights how a specific form of causal understanding, namely technical reasoning, may support the increasing complexity of tools and techniques developed by humans over generations, i.e., the cumulative technological culture (CTC). Thus, investigating the neurocognitive founda...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2022-07, Vol.12 (1), p.11840-11840, Article 11840
Main Authors: Federico, Giovanni, Reynaud, Emanuelle, Navarro, Jordan, Lesourd, Mathieu, Gaujoux, Vivien, Lamberton, Franck, Ibarrola, Danièle, Cavaliere, Carlo, Alfano, Vincenzo, Aiello, Marco, Salvatore, Marco, Seguin, Perrine, Schnebelen, Damien, Brandimonte, Maria Antonella, Rossetti, Yves, Osiurak, François
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/181
631/378/2649
631/477
Brain
Cell culture
Cognition
Cognitive ability
Cognitive Sciences
Cortex (parietal)
Humanities and Social Sciences
Life Sciences
multidisciplinary
Neuroimaging
Neurons and Cognition
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Most recent research highlights how a specific form of causal understanding, namely technical reasoning, may support the increasing complexity of tools and techniques developed by humans over generations, i.e., the cumulative technological culture (CTC). Thus, investigating the neurocognitive foundations of technical reasoning is essential to comprehend the emergence of CTC in our lineage. Whereas functional neuroimaging evidence started to highlight the critical role of the area PF of the left inferior parietal cortex (IPC) in technical reasoning, no studies explored the links between the structural characteristics of such a brain region and technical reasoning skills. Therefore, in this study, we assessed participants’ technical-reasoning performance by using two ad-hoc psycho-technical tests; then, we extracted from participants’ 3 T T1-weighted magnetic-resonance brain images the cortical thickness (i.e., a volume-related measure which is associated with cognitive performance as reflecting the size, density, and arrangement of cells in a brain region) of all the IPC regions for both hemispheres. We found that the cortical thickness of the left area PF predicts participants’ technical-reasoning performance. Crucially, we reported no correlations between technical reasoning and the other IPC regions, possibly suggesting the specificity of the left area PF in generating technical knowledge. We discuss these findings from an evolutionary perspective, by speculating about how the evolution of parietal lobes may have supported the emergence of technical reasoning in our lineage.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-15587-8