PI Lecture Series: John-Dylan Haynes: “What can neuroimaging tell us about human intelligence?”

The concept of intelligence in cognitive science has been highly elusive. One pragmatic approach to understanding intelligence is to use classical intelligence tests, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). In such tests, performance is assessed in a number of specific subtask items, and the performance across these items is then integrated to an overall (or “full scale”) IQ. Neuroimaging has contributed to both the single-item and the full-scale performance. At the item level, several studies have looked at resource and efficiency models. At the full-scale level studies have looked at overall brain structure, as well as the importance of various subregions of the brain. Furthermore, various architectural principles can be considered. Overall, this line of research contributes to the understanding of intelligent cognition in a specific biological substrate, the healthy human brain.

Prof. John-Dylan Haynes

Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, HU Berlin, Psychology