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Title: The neural basis of intelligence in fine-grained cortical topographies
Intelligent thought is the product of efficient neural information processing, which is embedded in fine-grained, topographically organized population responses and supported by fine-grained patterns of connectivity among cortical fields. Previous work on the neural basis of intelligence, however, has focused on coarse-grained features of brain anatomy and function because cortical topographies are highly idiosyncratic at a finer scale, obscuring individual differences in fine-grained connectivity patterns. We used a computational algorithm, hyperalignment, to resolve these topographic idiosyncrasies and found that predictions of general intelligence based on fine-grained (vertex-by-vertex) connectivity patterns were markedly stronger than predictions based on coarse-grained (region-by-region) patterns. Intelligence was best predicted by fine-grained connectivity in the default and frontoparietal cortical systems, both of which are associated with self-generated thought. Previous work overlooked fine-grained architecture because existing methods could not resolve idiosyncratic topographies, preventing investigation where the keys to the neural basis of intelligence are more likely to be found.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1835200
PAR ID:
10294409
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
eLife
Volume:
10
ISSN:
2050-084X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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