Humans are undeniably unique among all the animals in the world. Our capacity for complex thinking is far above that of any other animal, so it is no surprise that researchers want to know why. In fact, philosophers and scientists have been trying to figure out what exactly allows us to engage in complex logic and problem solving for thousands of years.

Of course, we know that it comes from our brain, but the exact part of the brain and how it works are much more difficult to pinpoint. A new study published in the journal Brain, however, seems to have made great strides toward figuring this out.

In the study, researchers at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Department of Neuropsychology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery worked with 247 patients who had brain lesions either caused by injury, tumor, or other things. In addition, they had 81 healthy people in the study as a control group.

For the study, the researchers gave each person two tests to help determine their reasoning skills. The first was a test to evaluate verbal deductive reasoning, which is a puzzle where they were asked to find relationships between words to solve a problem. The second was a nonverbal analogical reason test that gave each person a set of pictures, shapes, or numbers and asked questions concerning which ones are most similar.

The results found that those who had brain damage located in the right frontal lobe scored about 15% lower than the other participants.

In a statement about the study, lead researcher Dr. Joseph Mole said:

“Our study explores how the front right part of the brain helps people think and solve new problems. It also shows that our two new tests can help detect reasoning problems in individuals with brain damage, improving diagnosis and treatment.”

Having a set of tests that can be used to help to diagnose reasoning problems will be a great asset to other patients going forward. This is just one of the many benefits that this study may provide.

Professor Lisa Cipolotti was another researcher, and she added to the statement:

“By combining a detailed cognitive investigation in a large sample of brain damaged patients with advanced lesion mapping techniques – developed by Professor Parashkev Nachev and his team at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology – we have deepened our understanding of the complex and, so far, poorly understood, neural structures underlying human reasoning. Our findings show a close connection between the right frontal brain network involved in reasoning and the right frontal brain network essential for fluid intelligence (our ability to solve problems without prior experience). This suggests that a common area of the brain plays a critical role in both reasoning and fluid intelligence.”

One of the best things about the tests that they developed for this study is that it is non-invasive and can be done without prohibitively expensive equipment. The team hopes that their findings will be evaluated further and then used throughout the UK’s National Health Service (and beyond) to help diagnose issues on or near the right frontal lobe of the brain.

Learning about the brain is often very difficult because tests can be invasive and dangerous. This method will hopefully lead to more effective and less invasive ways to diagnose conditions with the brain.

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