title: Levels of conflict in reasoning modulate right lateral prefrontal cortex.
abstract: Right lateral prefrontal cortex (rlPFC) has previously been implicated in logical reasoning under conditions of conflict. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was conducted to explore its role in conflict more precisely. Specifically, we distinguished between belief-logic conflict and belief-content conflict, and examined the role of rlPFC under each condition. The results demonstrated that a specific region of rlPFC is consistently activated under both types of conflict. Moreover, the results of a parametric analysis demonstrated that the same region was modulated by the level of conflict contained in reasoning arguments. This supports the idea that this specific region is engaged to resolve conflict, including during deductive reasoning. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "The Cognitive Neuroscience of Thought".
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. melanie.stollstorff@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stollstorff
authors.forename: Oshin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vartanian
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Goel
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult