{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,7]],"date-time":"2025-11-07T18:37:42Z","timestamp":1762540662139},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MIT Press - Journals","issue":"7","content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>An important question for understanding the neural basis of problem solving is whether the regions of human prefrontal cortices play qualitatively different roles in the major cognitive restructuring required to solve difficult problems. However, investigating this question using neuroimaging faces a major dilemma: either the problems do not require major cognitive restructuring, or if they do, the restructuring typically happens once, rendering repeated measurements of the critical mental process impossible. To circumvent these problems, young adult participants were challenged with a one-dimensional Subtraction (or Nim) problem [Bouton, C. L. Nim, a game with a complete mathematical theory. The Annals of Mathematics, 3, 35\u201339, 1901] that can be tackled using two possible strategies. One, often used initially, is effortful, slow, and error-prone, whereas the abstract solution, once achieved, is easier, quicker, and more accurate. Behaviorally, success was strongly correlated with sex. Using voxel-based morphometry analysis controlling for sex, we found that participants who found the more abstract strategy (i.e., Solvers) had more gray matter volume in the anterior medial, ventrolateral prefrontal, and parietal cortices compared with those who never switched from the initial effortful strategy (i.e., Explorers). Removing the sex covariate showed higher gray matter volume in Solvers (vs. Explorers) in the right ventrolateral prefrontal and left parietal cortex.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_01109","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,2]],"date-time":"2017-03-02T17:25:17Z","timestamp":1488475517000},"page":"1147-1161","update-policy":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Major Thought Restructuring: The Roles of Different Prefrontal Cortical Regions"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"29","author":[{"given":"Shima","family":"Seyed-Allaei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tehran"},{"name":"Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Tehran, Iran"}]},{"given":"Zahra Nasiri","family":"Avanaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran"}]},{"given":"Bahador","family":"Bahrami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University College London"}]},{"given":"Tim","family":"Shallice","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University College London"},{"name":"International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021073021101833100_R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"358","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2006.04.002","article-title":"On the emergence of modern humans","volume":"103","author":"Amati","year":"2007","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2382","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2010.10.009","article-title":"Is 2 + 2 = 4? Meta-analyses of brain areas needed for numbers and calculations","volume":"54","author":"Arsalidou","year":"2011","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2007.07.007","article-title":"A fast diffeomorphic image registration algorithm","volume":"38","author":"Ashburner","year":"2007","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"529","DOI":"10.1037\/0894-4105.20.5.529","article-title":"The role of inferior parietal and inferior frontal cortex in working memory","volume":"20","author":"Baldo","year":"2006","journal-title":"Neuropsychology"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.2307\/1967631","article-title":"Nim, a game with a complete mathematical theory","volume":"3","author":"Bouton","year":"1901","journal-title":"The Annals of Mathematics"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1196\/annals.1440.011","article-title":"The brain's default network","volume":"1124","author":"Buckner","year":"2008","journal-title":"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"290","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2007.05.004","article-title":"The gateway hypothesis of rostral prefrontal cortex (area 10) function","volume":"11","author":"Burgess","year":"2007","journal-title":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1373","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2012.05.013","article-title":"Parts to principles: Anatomical origins of prefrontal organization","volume":"48","author":"Chatham","year":"2012","journal-title":"Cortex"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7763","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.4579-10.2011","article-title":"Mechanisms of rule acquisition and rule following in inductive reasoning","volume":"31","author":"Crescentini","year":"2011","journal-title":"Journal of Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"970","DOI":"10.1126\/science.284.5416.970","article-title":"Sources of mathematical thinking: Behavioral and brain-imaging evidence","volume":"284","author":"Dehaene","year":"1999","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1002\/hbm.20127","article-title":"Involvement of the inferior frontal junction in cognitive control: Meta-analyses of switching and Stroop studies","volume":"25","author":"Derrfuss","year":"2005","journal-title":"Human Brain Mapping"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"820","DOI":"10.1038\/35097575","article-title":"An adaptive coding model of neural function in prefrontal cortex","volume":"2","author":"Duncan","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R13","volume-title":"Zur Psychologie des produktiven Denkens [Psychology of productive thinking]","author":"Duncker","year":"1935"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/6270.001.0001","volume-title":"Sketches of thought","author":"Goel","year":"1995"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"417","DOI":"10.1002\/9780470478509.neubb001022","article-title":"Cognitive neuroscience of thinking","volume-title":"Handbook of neuroscience for the behavioral sciences","author":"Goel","year":"2009"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1080\/026432900410775","article-title":"Role of the right prefrontal cortex in ill-structured planning","volume":"17","author":"Goel","year":"2000","journal-title":"Cognitive Neuropsychology"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1170","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhh217","article-title":"Dissociating the roles of right ventral lateral and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex in generation and maintenance of hypotheses in set-shift problems","volume":"15","author":"Goel","year":"2005","journal-title":"Cerebral Cortex"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R18","volume-title":"The nature of human intelligence","author":"Guilford","year":"1967"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2012.00023","article-title":"Experience and abstract reasoning in learning backward induction","volume":"6","author":"Hawes","year":"2012","journal-title":"Frontiers in Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"435","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn1684","article-title":"Interactions between number and space in parietal cortex","volume":"6","author":"Hubbard","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nature Review Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1626","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2010.07.027","article-title":"Human parietal cortex structure predicts individual differences in perceptual rivalry","volume":"20","author":"Kanai","year":"2010","journal-title":"Current Biology"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn3000","article-title":"The structural basis of inter-individual differences in human behaviour and cognition","volume":"12","author":"Kanai","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1000","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03195762","article-title":"An eye movement study of insight problem solving","volume":"29","author":"Knoblich","year":"2001","journal-title":"Memory and Cognition"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-010213-115154","article-title":"The cognitive neuroscience of insight","volume":"65","author":"Kounios","year":"2014","journal-title":"Annual Review of Psychology"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1080\/20445911.2012.719021","article-title":"Strategic changes in problem-solving","volume":"25","author":"Lee","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Psychology"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4398","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.070039597","article-title":"Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers","volume":"97","author":"Maguire","year":"2000","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A."},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1016\/0920-9964(95)95284-G","article-title":"Functional anatomy of inner speech and auditory verbal imagery","volume":"15","author":"McGuire","year":"1995","journal-title":"Schizophrenia Research"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"394","DOI":"10.1162\/089892903321593117","article-title":"A parametric manipulation of factors affecting task-induced deactivation in functional neuroimaging","volume":"15","author":"Mckiernan","year":"2003","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1753","DOI":"10.1162\/089892905774589190","article-title":"Dissociating reading processes on the basis of neuronal interactions","volume":"17","author":"Mechelli","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.neuro.24.1.167","article-title":"An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function","volume":"24","author":"Miller","year":"2001","journal-title":"Annual Review of Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"387","DOI":"10.1016\/0028-3932(95)00116-6","article-title":"Effects of focal brain lesions on visual problem-solving","volume":"34","author":"Miller","year":"1996","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R50","volume-title":"Human problem solving","author":"Newell","year":"1972"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4757-0629-1_1","article-title":"Attention to action: Willed and automatic control of behavior","volume-title":"Consciousness and self regulation: Advances in research and theory","author":"Norman","year":"1986"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R33","first-page":"1","article-title":"Information-processing explanations of insight and related phenomena","volume-title":"Advances in the psychology of thinking","author":"Ohlsson","year":"1992"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"342","DOI":"10.1038\/362342a0","article-title":"The neural correlates of the verbal component of working memory","volume":"362","author":"Paulesu","year":"1993","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R45","volume-title":"The psychology of efficiency: An experimental study of the processes involved in the solution of mechanical puzzles and in the acquisition of skill in their manipulation","author":"Ruger","year":"1910"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1459","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0001459","article-title":"Deconstructing insight: EEG correlates of insightful problem solving","volume":"3","author":"Sandk\u00fchler","year":"2008","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"331","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2015.03.015","article-title":"Medial prefrontal cortex predicts internally driven strategy shifts","volume":"86","author":"Schuck","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R37","volume-title":"Zur Psychologie der produktiven Denkens und des Irrtums (On the psychology of productive thinking and of error)","author":"Selz","year":"1922"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"308","DOI":"10.1080\/13546783.2010.523546","article-title":"Internally driven strategy change","volume":"16","author":"Seyed-Allaei","year":"2010","journal-title":"Thinking and Reasoning"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:osobl\/9780199579242.001.0001","volume-title":"The organisation of mind","author":"Shallice","year":"2011"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2013.00175","article-title":"Is there a semantic system for abstract words?","volume":"7","author":"Shallice","year":"2013","journal-title":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"94","DOI":"10.1037\/a0014212","article-title":"Does incubation enhance problem solving? A meta-analytic review","volume":"135","author":"Sio","year":"2009","journal-title":"Psychological Bulletin"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"849","DOI":"10.1002\/hbm.21252","article-title":"Gender differences in brain functional connectivity density","volume":"33","author":"Tomasi","year":"2012","journal-title":"Human Brain Mapping"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"927","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2005.05.016","article-title":"Task constraints modulate activation in right ventral lateral prefrontal cortex","volume":"27","author":"Vartanian","year":"2005","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"2021073021101833100_R44","volume-title":"Experimental psychology","author":"Woodworth","year":"1955"}],"container-title":["Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/jocn\/article-pdf\/29\/7\/1147\/1952849\/jocn_a_01109.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"http:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/jocn\/article-pdf\/29\/7\/1147\/1952849\/jocn_a_01109.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,31]],"date-time":"2021-07-31T02:52:19Z","timestamp":1627699939000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/jocn\/article\/29\/7\/1147\/28669\/Major-Thought-Restructuring-The-Roles-of-Different"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,1]]},"references-count":46,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,1]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/jocn_a_01109","relation":{},"ISSN":["0898-929X","1530-8898"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0898-929X","type":"print"},{"value":"1530-8898","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2017,7]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,7,1]]}}}