Neural correlates of strategic thinking

几乎每一项用于研究人类行为的任务都要求受试者对模糊或不完整的信息做出明确的反应。这一要求将决策部分引入了许多实验，这些实验旨在测量感知或认知的其他方面。如果研究人员没有明确考虑，受试者为应对这一决策部分而采取的策略可能会极大地和误导性地影响实验结果。本研究的目的是研究策略性思维在行为任务中的作用，并探讨与决策和策略性思维过程相关的特定神经机制。我们提出了一系列实验来研究左半球和前额叶皮质在假说形成中的作用。我们认为，即使不存在因果关系，受试者也有强烈的寻找和假设因果关系的倾向。有证据表明，大多数人的左脑结构支持这种倾向。当事件之间存在逻辑关系时，这种类型的思维过程是真正有益的，但如果不存在偶然关系，则可能是有害的。我们提出了一系列测试正常受试者、膝盖骨切开术患者和病变患者的研究，这些研究改变了任务元素之间的关系的性质，并检查了所形成的假设的存在和性质。来自患者群体的数据将有助于确定对这些任务至关重要的皮质区域。我们相信，这两组研究将对成像研究和患者研究的评估方式产生重大影响，并将进一步加深我们对大脑如何做出决定的理解。

Almost every task used in studying human behavior demands that subjects make categorical responses int eh face of ambiguous or incomplete information. This requirement introduces a decision-making component into many experiments that are designed to measure other aspects of perception or cognition. The strategies subjects adopt to cope with this decision-making component can dramatically and misleadingly influence experimental outcomes if they are not explicitly considered by the investigator. The aim of this proposal is to investigate the role of strategic thinking in behavioral tasks and to investigate specific neural mechanisms associated with decision making and strategic though processes. We propose a series of experiments to investigate the role of the left hemisphere and the prefrontal cortex in hypothesis formation. We believe that subjects have a strong tendency to look for and to posit causal relationships even when none exist. There is evidence that this tendency is supported by structures in the left hemisphere in most individuals. This type of thought process is of real benefit when there is a logical relationship among events but is potentially detrimental if there is no casual relationship exists. We propose a series of studies testing normal subjects, callosotomy patients, and lesion patients that vary the nature of the relationship among elements of the task and examine the presence and nature of hypothesis that are formed. Data from the patient populations will serve to identify cortical regions fundamental to these tasks. We believe that these two sets of studies will have a significant impact on the way that imaging studies and patient studies are evaluated, and will further our understanding of how the brain makes a decision.