For years, cognitive neuroscientists have tried to find relationships between specific areas of the brain and mental processes such as general intelligence or memory. Until now, researchers have been unable to successfully integrate comprehensive measures of brain structure and function in one analysis.
Barbey and his team measured the size and shape of features all over the brain.
"We were able to look at nerve fiber bundles, white-matter tracts, volume, cortical thickness and blood flow," said Patrick Watson, a postdoctoral researcher at the Beckman Institute and first author of the paper. "We also were able to look at cognitive variables like executive function and working memory all at once."
Using a statistical technique called independent
Barbey and his team measured the size and shape of features all over the brain.
"We were able to look at nerve fiber bundles, white-matter tracts, volume, cortical thickness and blood flow," said Patrick Watson, a postdoctoral researcher at the Beckman Institute and first author of the paper. "We also were able to look at cognitive variables like executive function and working memory all at once."
Using a statistical technique called independent