Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Contributes to Fluid Intelligence Through Multinetwork Connectivity

Our ability to effectively adapt to novel circumstances—as measured by general fluid intelligence—has recently been tied to the global connectivity of lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). Global connectivity is a broad measure that summarizes both within-network connectivity and across-network connectivity. We used additional graph theoretical measures to better characterize the nature of LPFC connectivity and its relationship with fluid intelligence. We specifically hypothesized that LPFC is a connector hub with an across-network connectivity that contributes to fluid intelligence independent of within-network connectivity. We verified that LPFC was in the top 10% of brain regions in terms of across-network connectivity, suggesting it is a strong connector hub. Importantly, we found that the LPFC across-network connectivity predicted individuals’ fluid intelligence and this correlation remained statistically significant when controlling for global connectivity (which includ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2015
• Where: BRAIN
• Authors: Michael W. Cole, Takuya Ito, Todd S. Braver
• Keywords: BRAIN 2015, Information Technology