Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Neural Mechanism of Human Numerical Inductive Reasoning Process: A Combined ERP and fMRI Study

  • Conference paper
Web Intelligence Meets Brain Informatics (WImBI 2006)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 4845))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Inductive reasoning is one of the most important higher level cognitive functions of the human brain, and we still know very little about its neural mechanism. In the present study, event-related potential (ERP) and event-related fMRI are used to explore the dynamic spatiotemporal characteristics of inductive reasoning process. We hypothesize that the process of numerical inductive reasoning is partially dissociable over time and space. A typical task of inductive reasoning, function-finding, was adopted. Induction tasks and calculation tasks were performed in the experiments, respectively. ERP results suggest that the time course of inductive reasoning process is partially dissociable as the following three sub-processes: number recognition (the posterior P100 and N200), strategy formation (P300) and hypothesis generation and verification (the positive slow waves). fMRI results show many activations, including prefrontal gyrus (BA 6), inferior parietal lobule (BA 7, 40), and occipital cortex (BA 18). After the respective discussions, the two kinds of data are combined qualitatively, then the dynamic spatiotemporal characteristic of inductive reasoning process are depicted using a conceptual figure. This study is a preliminary effort towards deeply understanding the dynamic information processing mechanism of human inductive reasoning process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Bledowski, C., Prvulovic, D., Goebel, R., Zanella, F.E., Linden, D.E.: Attentional System in Target and Distractor Processing: a Combined ERP and fMRI Study. NeuroImage 22(2), 530–540 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Chen, A.T., Li, H., Qiu, J., Luo, Y.J.: Time Course of Visual Categorization: Electrophysiology Evidence of ERPs. Chinese Science Bulletin 51(11), 1281–1286 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chochon, F., Cohen, L., van de Moortele, P.F., Dehaene, S.: Differential Contributions of the Left and Right Inferior Parietal Lobules to Number Processing. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 11(6), 617–630 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Christoff, K., Prabhakaran, V., Dorfman, J., Zhao, Z., Kroger, J.K., Holvoak, K.J., Gabrieli, J.D.: Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Involvement in Relational Integration during Reasoning. NeuroImage 14(5), 1136–1149 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Christoff, K., Ream, J.M., Geddes, L.P.T., Gabrieli, J.D.E.: Evaluating Self-Generated Information: Anterior Prefrontal Contributions to Human Cognition. Behavioral Neuroscience 117(6), 1161–1168 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Coles, M.G.H., Rugg, M.D.: Event-related Brain Potentials: an Introduction. In: Rugg, M.D., Coles, M.G.H. (eds.) Electrophysiology of Minds: ERPs and Cognition, pp. 1–26. Oxford University Press (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Donchin, E.: Surprise!... Surprise? Psychophysiology 18(5), 493–513 (1981)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Fink, G.R., Halligan, P.W., Marshall, J.C., Frith, C.D., Frackowiak, R.S.J., Dolan, R.J.: Where in the Brain Does Visual Attention Select the Forest and the Trees? Nature 382, 626–628 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gazzaniga, M.S., Smylie, C.S.: Dissociation of Language and Cognition. Brain 107(1), 145–153 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Gazzaniga, M.S.: The Mind’s Past. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Geake, J.G., Hansen, P.H.: Neural Correlates of Intelligence as Revealed by fMRI of Fluid Analogies. Neuroimage 26, 555–564 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Goel, V., Gold, B., Kapur, S., Houle, S.: The Seats of Reason? An Imaging Study of Deductive and Inductive Reasoning. NeuroReport 8(5), 1305–1310 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Goel, V., Dolan, R.J.: Anatomical Segregation of Component Processes in an Inductive Inference Task. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 12(1), 1–10 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Goel, V., Vartanian, O.: Dissociating the Roles of Right Ventral Lateral and Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex in Generation and Maintenance of Hypotheses in Set-shift Problems. Cerebral Cortex (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Goel, V., Dolan, R.J.: Different Involvement of Left Prefrontal Cortex in Inductive and Deductive Reasoning. Cognition 93(3), B109–B121 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Goel, V., Shuren, J., Sheesley, L., Grafman, J.: Asymmetrical Involvement of Frontal Lobes in Social Reasoning. Brain 127(3), 1–8 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Guillem, F., Kaoub, N., Rougier, A., Claverie, B.: Intracranial Topography of Event-related Potentials (N400 vs P600) Eliciting during a Continuous Recognition Memory Task. Psychophysiology 32, 382–392 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Halgren, E., Marinkovic, K., Chauvel, P.: Generators of the Late Cognitive Potentials in Auditory and Visual Oddball Tasks. Electroencephalography Clinical Neurophysiology 106, 156–164 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Haverty, L.A., Koedinger, K.R., Klahr, D., Alibali, M.W.: Solving Induction Problems in Mathematics: Not-so-trivial Pursuit. Cognitive Science 24(2), 249–298 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Hillyard, S.A., Munte, T.F.: Selective Attention to Color and Location: an Analysis with Event-related Brain Potentials. Percept. Psychophys. 36, 185–198 (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Iguchi, Y., Hashimoto, I.: Sequential Information Processing during a Mental Arithmetic Is Reflected in the Time Course of Event-related Brain Potentials. Clinical Neurophysiology 111(2), 204–213 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Kondo, H., Osaka, N., Osaka, M.: Cooperation of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex for Attention Shifting. NeuroImage 23, 670–679 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Langdon, D., Warrington, E.K.: The Role of the Left Hemisphere in Verbal and Spatial Reasoning Tasks. Cortex 36(5), 691–702 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Liang, P.P., Zhong, N., Wu, J.L., Lu, S.F., Liu, J.M., Yao, Y.Y.: Time Dissociative Characteristics of Numerical Inductive Reasoning: Behavioral and ERP Evidence. In: Proceeding of the International Joint Conference of Neural Network (IJCNN 2007) (Accepted)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Lin, T.K.: Modelling Inductive Reasoning Ability for Adaptive Virtual Learning Environment. In: Procceeding of the IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2004), pp. 343–349. IADIS Press, Lisbon, Portugal (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Liu, J.: Web Intelligence (WI): What Makes Wisdom Web? In: Proceeding of the Eighteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 2003), pp. 1596–1601 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Luo, Y.J., Nan, Y., Li, H.: Difference of Neural Correlates between Subitizing and Counting Reflected by ERPs. Acta Psychologica Sinica 36(4), 434–441 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  28. MacDonald, A.W., Cohen, J.D., Stenger, V.A., Carter, C.S.: Dissociating the Role of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulated Cortex in Cognitive Control. Science 288(9), 1835–1838 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Parsons, L.M., Osherson, D.: New Evidence for Distinct Right and Left Brain Systems for Deductive vs Probabilistic Reasoning. Cerebral Cortex 11(10), 954–965 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Prabhakaran, V., Smith, J.A.L., Desmond, J.E., Glover, G.H., Gabrieli, J.D.E.: Neural Substrates of Fluid Reasoning: an fMRI Study of Neocortical Activation during Performance of the Raven’s Progressive Matrices Test. Cognitive Psychology 33, 43–63 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ruchkin, D.S., Johnson, J.R., Mahaffey, D., Sutton, S.: Toward a Functional Categorization of Slow Waves. Psychophysiology 25, 339–353 (1988)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Sternberg, R.J.: Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence. East China Normal University Press, Shanghai, China (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sternberg, R.J.: Toward a Unified Theory of Human Reasoning. Intelligence 10, 281–314 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Strange, B.A., Henson, R.N.A., Friston, K.J., Dolan, R.J.: Anterior Prefrontal Cortex Mediates Rule Learning in Humans. Cerebral Cortex, 11, 1040–1046 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Varley, R., Siegal, M.: Evidence for Cognition without Grammar from Causal Reasoning and ’Theory of Mind’ in an Agrammatic Aphasic Patient. Current Biology 10(12), 723–726 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Verguts, T., Maris, E., Boeck, P.D.: A Dynamic Model for Rule Induction Tasks. Journal of Mathematical Psychology 46, 455–485 (2002)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  37. Wang, J.J., Zhang, M.D., Hokama, H.: The Neural Generators of the N400 Component of Event-related Potentials. Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry 18(1), 5–9 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  38. El Yagoubi, R., Lemaire, P., Besson, M.: Different Brain Mechanisms Mediate Two Strategies in Arithmetic: Evidence from Event-related Brain Potentials. Neuropsychologia 41(7), 855–862 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Zhong, N., Liu, J., Yao, Y.Y. (eds.): Web Intelligence. Springer, Berlin (2003)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  40. Zhong, N., Liu, J., Yao, Y.Y., Wu, J.: Web Intelligence (WI) Meets Brain Informatics (BI). In: Proceeding of the First International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering (CME 2005) (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Zhong, N.: Toward Human-level Web Intelligence. In: Ślęzak, D., Yao, J., Peters, J.F., Ziarko, W., Hu, X. (eds.) RSFDGrC 2005. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 3642, pp. 23–28. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The International WIC Institute, Beijing University of Technology, China

    Peipeng Liang, Ning Zhong, Shengfu Lu, Jiming Liu & Yiyu Yao

  2. Dept. of Life Science and Informatics, Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan

    Ning Zhong

  3. Dept. of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong,  

    Jiming Liu

  4. Dept. of Computer Science, University of Regina, Canada

    Yiyu Yao

  5. Dept. of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, China

    Kuncheng Li & Yanhui Yang

Authors
  1. Peipeng Liang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ning Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shengfu Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jiming Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yiyu Yao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kuncheng Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yanhui Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Ning Zhong Jiming Liu Yiyu Yao Jinglong Wu Shengfu Lu Kuncheng Li

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Liang, P. et al. (2007). The Neural Mechanism of Human Numerical Inductive Reasoning Process: A Combined ERP and fMRI Study. In: Zhong, N., Liu, J., Yao, Y., Wu, J., Lu, S., Li, K. (eds) Web Intelligence Meets Brain Informatics. WImBI 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 4845. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77028-2_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77028-2_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-77027-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-77028-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation