Researchers have identified the wit regions that are essential for logical thinking and problem - solving . The determination help us understand how our genius bear out our reasoning skills – our ability to comprehend , draw in conclusions , and deal with novel job .

logical thinking skills are pretty important . They underpin many of humans ’s greatest cerebral achievements – frommathematics , philosophy , and skill , to pub quiz , net memes , and excessively competitive games ofScrabble . give its significance in human personal business , reason itself has been the subject of century of academic interest , but our understanding of the relationship between logical thinking abilities and other cognitive processes , as well as their neuroanatomic basis , is still quite special .

To assess which brain areas are necessary for certain ability , researchers study patient role with brain wound – damage area – because of CVA or mentality neoplasm . This approach is known as “ lesion - shortage mapping ” . It ’s probably the most powerful way we have to localize functions in the human brainpower . However , it is not gentle to perform .

Studyingbrain injuriesis building complex and sentence - consuming , as researchers need a large number of patients with specific brain damage . For example , they may be looking for patient role who have trouble thinking , feeling , or moving , but few research centre have access to sufficient patients with the same problems to carry on this kind of subject field effectively .

Previous enquiry has tended to rely on useable magnetised reverberance imaging ( fMRI ) techniques in hefty individuals , where brain bodily function is notice by imaging changes in the blood stream and oxygenation in the brainiac . However , the upshot this technique pass can sometimes be shoddy , as it providescorrelational evidence , not causal .

In their latest subject , a team led by researchers at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Department of Neuropsychology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery , UCLH , used wound - deficit mapping to prove 247 patients with unilateral focal brain lesions in either the leftover or right head-on or ulterior region of the mastermind . In plus , 81 healthy somebody were include to serve as a control group .

Two psychometric test were used to assessreasoningskills in these participants . These include a verbal deductive logical thinking project – a puzzle where participants are asked to receive relationship between words to solve and problems . This included question such as “ If Sarah is smarter than Diana and Sarah is smarter than Heather , is Diana smarter than Heather ? ”

The 2d test was a nonverbal analogical logical thinking task – a case ofpuzzleinvolving motion-picture show , form and numbers that are used to solve problems or identify design . They were asked questions like “ Which set of number is 1,2,3 most similar to – 5,6,7 or 6,5,7 ? ” .

The results show that people with damage to the correct frontal lobe found it much harder to complete both tasks compare to those with harm to other area . They made about 15 pct more mistake than the other player .

“ Our study search how the front proper part of the mind help people think and solve new problems , ” lead source Dr Joseph Mole explained in astatement .

“ It also show that our two novel tests can help detect abstract thought problem in individuals with brain damage , improving diagnosis and intervention . ”

“ By combining a detailed cognitive investigation in a magnanimous sample of learning ability damage patients with advanced lesion mapping proficiency – developed by Professor Parashkev Nachev and his squad at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology – we have deepened our savvy of the complex and , so far , poorly understood , neuronal bodily structure underlie human reasoning , ” Professor Lisa Cipolotti lend .

“ Our findings show a close connection between the right-hand head-on mind connection involved in reasoning and the right frontal brain mesh essential for liquid intelligence ( our power to work out problems without anterior experience ) . This suggests that a common area of the mastermind run a vital role in both abstract thought and mobile intelligence . ”

The team think these finding have significant clinical implications , as the trial can help identifycognitive impairmentthat would ordinarily go undetected . They hope that , with further establishment and execution , the new reasoning mental testing could be rolled out on the UK ’s National Health Service , volunteer tools specifically designed to assess right frontal lobe dysfunction .

The report is published in the journalBrain .