Relating Introspective Accuracy to Individual Differences in Brain Structure

Relating Introspective Accuracy to Individual Differences in Brain Structure Fleming Weil Nagy Dolan Rees

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Relating Introspective Accuracy to Individual Differences in Brain Structure 2010 Science 10.1126/science.1191883 Fleming2010-relating-introspective-accuracy-to-individua Fleming2010-relating-introspective-accuracy-to-individua.txt, the project's staged copy d8f8f51a10d0e12c58afbfccce32d3f26c4754bb not-redistributable neuroscience

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0 spans located by searching the stored text for the quote's exact words, allowing any whitespace between them Individual differences in metacognitive sensitivity - how well a person's confidence tracks their own correctness - and whether those differences sit in brain structure. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. existence Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive sensitivity Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. neuroimaging neuroimaging Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. mechanisms anterior prefrontal cortex supports introspective accuracy by carrying out second-order operations that integrate supramodal perceptual information with the decision output, thereby linking performance to confidence Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. mechanisms metacognitive ability depends not only on local prefrontal grey matter but on the integrity of the reciprocal fibre projections running into and out of that region Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Holding objective performance constant by staircasing difficulty per participant isolates metacognitive variation from perceptual variation Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Type II ROC turns trial-by-trial confidence ratings into a single individual-level number, which is what makes a structural correlation possible at all Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Anterior prefrontal cortex is proposed as the site because it performs second-order operations on internally generated information, which is what metacognition requires Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The white matter result is predicted from the grey matter one rather than found independently: if the region matters, its connections should too Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The tract implicated carries fibres to and from exactly the prefrontal regions identified in the grey matter analysis, which is what makes the two results one result Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The design is correlational and cannot establish that the brain-structure/metacognition covariation is causal. what this limits: the structure-metacognition relationship: AS WITH ANY CORRELATIONAL METHOD, WE CANNOT ESTABLISH WHETHER THE COVARIATION ... REFLECTS A CAUSAL ROLE Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The absence of structural correlates for objective performance and confidence bias may be an artefact of a design that deliberately minimised variability in those measures. what this limits: the null results for objective performance and confidence bias, which the design produced: OUR DESIGN DELIBERATELY MINIMISING VARIABILITY IN BOTH d' AND B_roc IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE NEURAL CORRELATES OF INTROSPECTIVE ABILITY Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The authors state plainly that the method cannot establish causation duplicate of: limitations[0] · what this limits: the same scope as limitations[0] - the method cannot establish causation Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Thirty-two participants, for whole-brain structural correlations with a behavioural trait what this limits: the whole-brain structural analysis: WE STUDIED 32 HEALTHY HUMAN PARTICIPANTS, for correlations between grey matter volume and a behavioural trait Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The design deliberately suppressed variance in performance and confidence bias, so the absence of structural correlates for those may be a consequence of the design rather than a finding duplicate of: limitations[1] · what this limits: the same scope as limitations[1] - the absence of structural correlates for d' and B_roc is a consequence of suppressing their variance on purpose Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The left-hemisphere homologue and a second temporal cluster did not survive whole-brain correction and are reported in supplementary tables what this limits: the laterality of the finding: the homologous left anterior prefrontal region DID NOT SURVIVE CORRECTION FOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS ACROSS THE BRAIN VOLUME Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Whether the anatomy is innate or the trace of experience is left open, and the two have very different implications what this limits: any developmental or trait reading of the anatomy: OUR PRESENT FINDINGS MAY REFLECT INNATE DIFFERENCES IN ANATOMY, OR ALTERNATIVELY REFLECT THE EFFECTS OF EXPERIENCE AND LEARNING Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. control analyses re-running the structural correlation while holding stimulus contrast - the staircase's converged value - constant eliminates: PERCEPTUAL ability as the confound behind an apparently INTROSPECTIVE one: a good perceiver's staircase settles at low contrast, so grey-matter correlates of metacognitive accuracy could be correlates of seeing well · outcome: held Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive ability - as an INDIVIDUAL-level trait: one number per person, which is the only level at which a structural correlation can be computed Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. confidence - as a TRIAL-level rating: what participants report after each decision, and the raw material rather than the measure Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognition - sensitivity (A roc): how well confidence separates correct from incorrect, the quantity of interest Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognition - bias (B roc): the tendency to use high or low confidence overall, which is a different thing and was checked to be uncorrelated Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. performance - objective (d’): how accurate the perceptual decisions were, deliberately held near constant so it cannot explain the result Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. claim_type: existence a second reading reaching the same value. Recorded: existence — note: a second reading reaching the same value from a different sentence. Not applied - a person decides. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. supports → lesion studies showing deficits in subjective report after anterior prefrontal damage Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. supports → theta-burst TMS work showing metacognitive sensitivity can be impaired while performance is spared Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. extends → the body of work linking individual differences in language, decision making and memory to healthy brain anatomy Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. EVIDENCE CORRECTED (RE-GROUNDED) · A roc —distinct-from→ B roc A roc B roc EVIDENCE CORRECTED: RE-GROUNDED. The old span named neither parameter. This sentence names both and states that the separation was BUILT INTO THE DESIGN - variability in d' and B roc was deliberately minimised 'in order to isolate' the neural correlates of A roc. — strength of the relation: 1 Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but gray matter did not correlate with d' or with overall confidence (B roc); distinct-from is loose. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. EVIDENCE CORRECTED (RE-GROUNDED) · A roc —distinct-from→ d’ A roc d’ EVIDENCE CORRECTED: RE-GROUNDED. Same sentence as [2], and for the same reason: the design deliberately minimised variability in d' in order to isolate A roc, which is a stronger ground for a distinction than an observed difference would be. — strength of the relation: 1 Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but A roc and task performance were UNCORRELATED; distinct-from rests on a null correlation. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. fractional anisotropy —part-of→ diffusion tensor imaging fractional anisotropy diffusion tensor imaging strength of the relation: 1 Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. staircase procedure —operationalised-as→ d’ staircase procedure d’ strength of the relation: 0.9 Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its span and kept, but the span links staircase convergence to perceptual ability; operationalised-as d' is loose. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. inferior temporal gyrus —contrasted-with→ anterior prefrontal cortex inferior temporal gyrus anterior prefrontal cortex strength of the relation: 1 Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but the inferior temporal gyrus showed a NEGATIVE correlation beside the primary positive one; contrasted-with is loose. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex —causes→ metacognitive sensitivity dorsolateral prefrontal cortex metacognitive sensitivity strength of the relation: 0.8 Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. introspective —same-as→ metacognitive sensitivity introspective metacognitive sensitivity strength of the relation: 1 Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. A roc —distinct-from→ B roc A roc B roc strength of the relation: 1 · note: RE-GROUNDS another row of this record: the old span named ONE endpoint. Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but the design minimised variability in d' and B roc to isolate A roc; distinct-from is loose. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. A roc —distinct-from→ d’ A roc d’ strength of the relation: 1 · note: RE-GROUNDS another row of this record: the old span named ONE endpoint. Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its span and kept, but the span explains a null structural result by the design; distinct-from is loose. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. receiver operating characteristic (Type II ROC) analysis receiver operating characteristic (Type II ROC) analysis Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. correlation correlation Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. coefficient of determination / model fit coefficient of determination / model fit Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. test-retest (split-half) reliability test-retest (split-half) reliability Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. multiple-comparison correction multiple-comparison correction Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. nuisance covariates in a regression model nuisance covariates in a regression model Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. signal-detection sensitivity and criterion signal-detection sensitivity and criterion Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Pearson correlation Pearson correlation Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. test-retest reliability test-retest reliability Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. multiple comparisons correction multiple comparisons correction Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. coefficient of determination coefficient of determination Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. receiver operating characteristic receiver operating characteristic Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Individual metacognitive accuracy varied widely even though objective task performance was held constant, and the two measures were unrelated. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Metacognitive accuracy is stable within a person, as shown by split-half test-retest agreement. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Grey matter volume in right anterior prefrontal cortex (BA 10) predicted how accurate a person's introspective judgements were. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. That prefrontal grey matter effect was specific to metacognition: the same region's volume tracked neither perceptual sensitivity nor overall confidence bias. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. Left inferior temporal gyrus grey matter showed the opposite, negative relationship with metacognitive sensitivity. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. White matter integrity in the genu of the corpus callosum, which carries anterior prefrontal fibres, also scaled with metacognitive accuracy. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive ability varied widely across people while objective performance was held constant, and the two were uncorrelated Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. the individual differences were stable across a split-half check Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive ability correlated with grey matter volume in right anterior prefrontal cortex, surviving whole-brain correction Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. that same grey matter did not correlate with objective performance or with confidence bias Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. white matter integrity in the genu of the corpus callosum also tracked metacognitive ability Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. left inferior temporal gyrus showed the opposite, a negative structural correlation Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. The anterior prefrontal grey-matter and FA correlations held when controlling for task parameters, which themselves showed no correlations. Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive ability metacognitive ability Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. fractional anisotropy fractional anisotropy Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive sensitivity metacognitive sensitivity Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive ability metacognitive ability Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. A roc A roc Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. fractional anisotropy fractional anisotropy Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. fractional anisotropy fractional anisotropy Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. ratings of confidence ratings of confidence Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. overall brain size and gender overall brain size and gender Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. metacognitive ability metacognitive ability Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. gray matter volume gray matter volume Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. fractional anisotropy of white matter fractional anisotropy of white matter Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. overall brain size and gender overall brain size and gender Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. objective task performance objective task performance Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 32 — number of healthy human participants scanned and tested Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 71% — the accuracy level at which each participant's perceptual difficulty was held by staircasing Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. mean R 2 = 0.97 ± 0.023 — goodness of fit of the Type II ROC model to individual participants' confidence data Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. A roc = 0.55 – 0.75 — range of individual metacognitive accuracy scores against a 70-74% constant objective performance range Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. r = 0.69, P = 0.00001 — split-half test-retest reliability of the A roc metacognitive measure Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. t max = 4.8 — peak voxel statistic for the grey matter correlation with metacognitive ability in BA 10 Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 32 healthy human participants — the whole sample for a whole-brain structural analysis Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. 71% — the accuracy each participant was staircased to, so performance could not explain the result Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. A roc = 0.55 – 0.75 — the spread of metacognitive ability across individuals Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. r = 0.69, P = 0.00001 — split-half stability of the individual measure Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution. mean R 2 = 0.97 ± 0.023 — fit of the ROC model to participants' confidence data Quotation withheld because this record is not cleared for redistribution.

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