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yesterday

Berkeley Study Links Brain's Smallest Folds to Reasoning Skills in Youth

New research finds deeper tertiary sulci correlate with stronger neural connectivity and cognitive performance, introducing tools for individualized brain mapping.

Image
An illustration of the many folds and grooves in the human brain. The smallest of these grooves (not visible) in the visual cortex and prefrontal cortex are associated with cognitive ability, such as face recognition and reasoning ability, respectively.

Overview

  • A UC Berkeley study published in *The Journal of Neuroscience* reveals that tertiary sulci, the brain's smallest folds, play a critical role in shaping reasoning abilities in children and adolescents.
  • Deeper tertiary sulci were found to align with functional connectivity hubs in the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, key regions for higher-order thinking.
  • The study used high-resolution MRI and fMRI on 43 participants aged 7–18, linking sulcal depth to both neural efficiency and reasoning task performance.
  • Researchers developed a machine-learning tool capable of mapping over 100 tertiary sulci, surpassing the 35 typically cataloged in standard neuroimaging software.
  • Future longitudinal and multimodal studies are planned to explore causal relationships between sulcal morphology, neural connectivity, and cognitive development.