New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI): Researchers have found evidence for a theory that views intelligence as a property of how the brain functions as a whole, rather than relating it to a specific cognitive function or brain network.
According to the Network Neuroscience Theory, intelligence is said to reflect how brain networks are coordinated and adapted to solve the diverse problems one encounters in life.
The researchers at the US' University of Notre Dame analysed brain imaging and cognitive data of 831 adults participating in the Human Connectome Project, an initiative focused on mapping the human brain and connecting its structure to function and behaviour.
An independent group of 145 adults were also analysed.
"We found evidence for system-wide coordination in the brain that is both robust and adaptable. This coordination does not carry out cognition itself, but determines the range of cognitive operations the system can support," said Ramsey Wilcox, a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications.
According to the framework, the brain modelled as a network constrained by global properties such as efficiency, flexibility and integration -- the properties are not tied to individual tasks or brain networks, but are characteristics of the system as a whole, Wilcox said.
"Once the question shifts from where intelligence is to how the system is organised, the empirical targets change," the lead author said.
The researchers found evidence to support predictions of the Network Neuroscience Theory.
For example, the brain requires integration and effective long-range communications to manage the distributed way of processing information across multiple networks, according to the theory.
Author Aron Barbey, professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame's department of psychology, said there is "a large and complex system of connections that serve as 'shortcuts' linking distant brain regions and integrating information across the networks."
Barbey added that general intelligence depends on the brain's ability to balance a local specialisation with global integration -- the brain functions best when tightly connected local clusters communicate well, but are still able to link to distant regions of the brain across short communication paths.
The result makes the most effective problem-solving possible, the researchers said.
Across both data sets analysed, individual differences in general intelligence were consistently associated with system-level properties -- no single region or basic "intelligence network" accounted for the effect, they said.
"General intelligence becomes visible when cognition is coordinated, when many processes must work together under system-level constraints," Barbey said.
The authors wrote, "Our investigation provided evidence that general intelligence (1) engages multiple networks, supporting the principle of distributed processing; (2) relies on weak, long-range connections, emphasising an efficient and globally coordinated network; (3) recruits regions that orchestrate network interactions, supporting the role of modal control in driving global activity; and (4) depends on a small-world architecture for system-wide communication."
(PTI)
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.