Stable Boolean rule learning: An fMRI investigation

To explore brain areas involved in Boolean arithmetical computation, functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) was performed on college students during performance of Boolean calculation tasks. For the Boolean arithmetical problems relative to number-processing tasks, results for all twelve subjects revealed bilateral activation in occipital cortex (areas 17 and 18), frontal cortex (areas 6, 8, 9 and 46), and sub-lobar areas. Other simultaneously activated regions included the left inferior parietal lobule, postcentral gyrus and superior parietal lobule. Areas activated by the Boolean mathematical problems associative with the number-processing in fronto-parieto-occipital network. These results confirm some existing hypotheses regarding the cortical network of arithmetic processing, invite acquisition of complex mental problems, and suggest basal role for complex mathematics.