A central circuit of the mind.
The methodologies of cognitive architectures and functional magnetic resonance imaging can mutually inform each other. For example, four modules of the ACT-R (adaptive control of thought - rational) cognitive architecture have been associated with four brain regions that are active in complex tasks. Activity in a lateral inferior prefrontal region reflects retrieval of information in a declarative module; activity in a posterior parietal region reflects changes to problem representations in an imaginal module; activity in the anterior cingulate cortex reflects the updates of control information in a goal module; and activity in the caudate nucleus reflects execution of productions in a procedural module. Differential patterns of activation in such central regions can reveal the time course of different components of complex cognition.
Anderson
John R
JR
Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. ja+@cmu.edu <ja+@cmu.edu>
Fincham
Jon M
JM
Qin
Yulin
Y
Stocco
Andrea
A
D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*