Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Intelligence Map Made From Brain Injury Data

Posted by Soulskill on from the he-got-punched-in-the-math dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this news out of the University of Illinois: "Scientists report that they have mapped the physical architecture of intelligence in the brain. Theirs is one of the largest and most comprehensive analyses so far of the brain structures vital to general intelligence and to specific aspects of intellectual functioning, such as verbal comprehension and working memory. Their study, published in Brain: A Journal of Neurology (abstract), is unique in that it enlisted an extraordinary pool of volunteer participants: 182 Vietnam veterans with highly localized brain damage from penetrating head injuries. ... The researchers took CT scans of the participants’ brains and administered an extensive battery of cognitive tests. They pooled the CT data to produce a collective map of the cortex, which they divided into more than 3,000 three-dimensional units called voxels. By analyzing multiple patients with damage to a particular voxel or cluster of voxels and comparing their cognitive abilities with those of patients in whom the same structures were intact, the researchers were able to identify brain regions essential to specific cognitive functions, and those structures that contribute significantly to intelligence."

5 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. OK... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Funny

    There's the map of The Brain; is anyone working on a map of Pinky?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:OK... by Bengie · · Score: 4, Funny

      Uh, I think so, but how do we get Minecraft players inside someone's head to fix their voxels?

  2. Re:Voxel by stevegee58 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Not to be confused with Vauxhall

  3. Re:Voxel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't need some city slicker with a name like "proslack" telling me what a goddman Voxel is. I did two tours of duty in Command & Conquer.. I saw a lot in my time.

  4. Re:Let me get this straight by kanweg · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think the study is full of holes

    Bert