Neural Development of Deductive Reasoning

描述（由申请人提供）：演绎推理是人类智力的核心，在儿童时期对基本概念的学习和理解中起着重要作用。推理对数学和语言学习也有很大的帮助。鉴于演绎推理在教育中的核心作用，提高我们对其发展的认知和神经基础的理解至关重要。对成人的神经成像研究表明，参与推理的大脑区域部分取决于任务的类型。例如，与视觉空间处理有关的后顶叶区域与线性关系推理有关（例如，汤姆比比尔高，比尔比约翰高，因此汤姆比约翰高），而与言语处理有关的左下额叶区域与分类推理有关（例如，所有郁金香都是花，所有花都是植物，因此所有郁金香都是植物）。然而，成人的神经影像学研究也表明，左前额叶外侧皮层也参与其中

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Deductive reasoning is central to human intelligence and plays a fundamental role in the learning and understanding of fundamental concepts during childhood. Deductions also contribute significantly to mathematical and language learning. Given the central role of deductive reasoning in education, it is critical to advance our understanding of the cognitive and neural underpinnings of its development. Neuroimaging research in adults suggests that the brain regions that are engaged in deduction partially depend upon the type of task. For example, posterior parietal regions that have been linked to visuo-spatial processing have been implicated in linear relational reasoning (e.g., Tom is taller than Bill, Bill is taller than John, therefore Tom is taller than John), whereas left inferior fronal regions associated with verbal processing have been implicated in categorical reasoning (e.g., All Tulips are Flowers, All Flowers are Plants, therefore All Tulips are Plants). However, neuroimaging studies in adults also show that the left rostro-lateral prefrontal cortex is involved in both relational and categorical reasoning, suggesting a more general role for this region in the manipulation and integration of the premises of all types of reasoning problems. Although there have been several neuroimaging studies in adults and behavioral studies in children, nothing is known about the neural basis of the development of deductive reasoning in children. This project will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural development of relational and categorical reasoning in typically developing children (8-9 versus 12-13 year olds). We will examine differences in signal intensity using conventional fMRI analyses, but we will also examine differences in effective connectivity using dynamic causal modeling (DCM). The results of this project will indicate how deductive reasoning emerges and interacts with spatial and verbal systems during childhood and early adolescence. By identifying the neural development of deductive reasoning in typically developing children, our study will also provide the necessary groundwork for future studies that will investigate how this developmental trajectory differs in children with specific language impairment and dyscalculia.