Fugelsang Jonathan A, Dunbar Kevin N
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
Neuropsychologia. 2005;43(8):1204-13. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.10.012. Epub 2004 Dec 21.
We use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral analyses to study the neural roots of biases in causal reasoning. Fourteen participants were given a task requiring them to interpret data relative to plausible and implausible causal theories. Encountering covariation-based data during the evaluation of a plausible theory as opposed to an implausible theory selectively recruited neural tissue in the prefrontal and occipital cortices. In addition, the plausibility of a causal theory modulated the recruitment of distinct neural tissue depending on the extent to which the data were consistent versus inconsistent with the theory provided. Specifically, evaluation of data consistent with a plausible causal theory recruited neural tissue in the parahippocampal gyrus, whereas evaluating data inconsistent with a plausible theory recruited neural tissue in the anterior cingulate, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and precuneus. We suggest that these findings provide a neural instantiation of the mechanisms by which working hypotheses and evidence are integrated in the brain.
我们使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）和行为分析来研究因果推理偏差的神经根源。14名参与者被给予一项任务，要求他们根据合理和不合理的因果理论来解释数据。在评估合理理论而非不合理理论时遇到基于共变的数据，会选择性地激活前额叶和枕叶皮质中的神经组织。此外，因果理论的合理性根据数据与所提供理论的一致程度来调节不同神经组织的激活。具体而言，评估与合理因果理论一致的数据会激活海马旁回中的神经组织，而评估与合理理论不一致的数据会激活前扣带回、左侧背外侧前额叶皮质和楔前叶中的神经组织。我们认为，这些发现为大脑中工作假设和证据整合机制提供了神经实例。
