Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2018 Apr;12(2):488-498. doi: 10.1007/s11682-017-9701-3.
Critical thinking enables people to form sound beliefs and provides a basis for emotional life. Research has indicated that individuals with better critical thinking disposition can better recognize and regulate their emotions, though the neuroanatomical mechanisms involved in this process remain to be elucidated. Further, the influence of emotional intelligence on the relationship between brain structure and critical thinking disposition has not been examined. The present study utilized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate the neural structures underlying critical thinking disposition in a large sample of college students (N = 296). Regional gray matter volume (rGMV) in the bilateral temporal pole, which reflects an individual's ability to process social and emotional information, was negatively correlated with critical thinking disposition. In addition, rGMV in bilateral para hippocampal regions -regions involved in contextual association/emotional regulation-exhibited negative correlation with critical thinking disposition. Further analysis revealed that emotional intelligence moderated the relationship between rGMV of the temporal pole and critical thinking disposition. Specifically, critical thinking disposition was associated with decreased GMV of the temporal pole for individuals who have relatively higher emotional intelligence rather than lower emotional intelligence. The results of the present study indicate that people who have higher emotional intelligence exhibit more effective and automatic processing of emotional information and tend to be strong critical thinkers.
批判性思维使人能够形成合理的信念，并为情感生活提供基础。研究表明，具有较好批判性思维倾向的个体能够更好地识别和调节自己的情绪，尽管这一过程涉及的神经解剖学机制仍有待阐明。此外，情绪智力对大脑结构与批判性思维倾向之间关系的影响尚未得到检验。本研究采用基于体素的形态测量学（VBM）方法，在一个较大的大学生样本（N=296）中，研究了批判性思维倾向的神经结构基础。双侧颞极的灰质体积（rGMV）与批判性思维倾向呈负相关，反映了个体处理社会和情感信息的能力。此外，双侧海马旁回区域（参与上下文联想/情绪调节的区域）的 rGMV 与批判性思维倾向呈负相关。进一步的分析表明，情绪智力调节了颞极 rGMV 与批判性思维倾向之间的关系。具体来说，对于情绪智力相对较高的个体，批判性思维倾向与颞极 GMV 的减少有关，而不是情绪智力较低的个体。本研究的结果表明，情绪智力较高的人对情绪信息的处理更有效且更自动，往往是较强的批判性思维者。
