The Anterior Frontomedian Cortex and Evaluative Judgment: An fMRI Study

doi:10.1006/nimg.2001.1008

NeuroImage

Volume 15, Issue 4, April 2002, Pages 983-991

https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.1008 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study investigated the neuronal basis of evaluative judgment. Judgments can be defined as the assessment of an external or internal stimulus on an internal scale and they are fundamental for decision-making and other cognitive processes. Evaluative judgments (I like George W. Bush: yes/no) are a special type of judgment, in which the internal scale is related to the person's value system (preferences, norms, aesthetic values, etc.). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activation during the performance of evaluative judgments as opposed to episodic and semantic memory retrieval. Evaluative judgment produced significant activation in the anterior frontomedian cortex (BA 10/9), the inferior precuneus (BA 23/31), and the left inferior prefrontal cortex (BA 45/47). The results show a functional dissociation between the activations in the anterior frontomedian cortex and in the inferior precuneus. The latter was mainly activated by episodic retrieval processes, supporting its function as a multimodal association area that integrates the different aspects of retrieved and newly presented information. In contrast, the anterior frontomedian cortex was mainly involved in evaluative judgments, supporting its role in self-referential processes and in the self-initiation of cognitive processes.

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Regular ArticleThe Anterior Frontomedian Cortex and Evaluative Judgment: An fMRI Study

Abstract

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

Cognit. Brain Res.

Cognition

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

Neuropsychologia

Consciousness Cognit.

NeuroImage

Med. Image Anal.

Consciousness Cognit.

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

Architecture and cortical connections of the prefrontal cortex in the rhesus monkey

Adv. Neurol.

Functional mapping of the human visual cortex by magnetic resonance imaging

Science

Statistical analysis of multi-subject fMRI data: The assessment of focal activations

J. Magn. Reson. Imaging

Confabulation and the control of recollection

Memory

Brain systems for encoding and retrieval of auditory–verbal memory: An in vivo study in humans

Brain

Statistical parametric maps in functional imaging: A general linear approach

Hum. Brain Mapping

Philosophical conceptions of the self: Implications for cognitive science

Trends Cognit. Sci.

The seats of reason? An imaging study of deductive and inductive reasoning

NeuroReport

Modeling other minds

NeuroReport

Priming across modalities and priming across category levels: Extending the domain of preserved function in amnesia

J. Exp. Psychol. Learning Memory Cognit.

Medial prefrontal cortex and self-referential mental activity: Relation to a default mode of brain function

Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA

Judgement and Choice

Generalisability, random effects and population inference

NeuroImage

Regular Article
The Anterior Frontomedian Cortex and Evaluative Judgment: An fMRI Study