학술논문
Nonsymbolic Numerosity Maps at the Occipitotemporal Cortex Respond to Symbolic Numbers.
Document Type
Academic Journal
Author
Cai Y; School of Psychology, South China Normal University, 510631, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China y.cai@m.scnu.edu.cn s.dumoulin@spinozacentre.nl.; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.; Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, 1105 BK, Amsterdam, Netherlands.; Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, Netherlands.; Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije University Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, Netherlands.; Hofstetter S; Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, 1105 BK, Amsterdam, Netherlands.; Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, Netherlands.; Dumoulin SO; Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, 1105 BK, Amsterdam, Netherlands y.cai@m.scnu.edu.cn s.dumoulin@spinozacentre.nl.; Computational Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, Netherlands.; Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije University Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, Netherlands.; Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, 3584 CS, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Source
Publisher: Society for Neuroscience Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8102140 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1529-2401 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 02706474 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Neurosci Subsets: MEDLINE
Subject
Language
English
Abstract
Numerosity, the set size of a group of items, helps guide human and animals' behavior and decisions. Numerosity perception is thought to be a precursor of symbolic numerical cognition. Previously, we uncovered neural populations selectively tuned to numerosities organized in a network of topographic maps in human association cortex. Here we investigate whether these numerosity maps are also involved in the processing of symbolic numbers, using 7T fMRI and a number-detection task. We recruited 7 participants (3 females) and found that the numerosity map at the temporal-occipital cortex (NTO) also responds to symbolic numbers. Furthermore, we found that numerosity-tuned neuronal populations at the NTO map in the left hemisphere are tuned to symbolic numbers. These results reveal different functions of the numerosity maps and support a link between numerosity representation and symbolic number processing in the ventral temporal-occipital cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans and other animals share an intuitive "number sense" to approximately represent numerosity. However, humans possess a unique ability to process number symbols (e.g., Arabic numbers). It has been argued that the human understanding of symbolic numbers is rooted in our ability to numerosity perception. Here we investigate whether numerosity-tuned neuronal populations organized at a network of topographic maps also respond to symbolic numbers. We find one of the maps at the temporal-occipital cortex is involved in symbolic numerical cognition and the neuronal populations are tuned to numbers. These results provide evidence for a link between nonsymbolic numerosity and symbolic number processing.
(Copyright © 2023 Cai et al.)
(Copyright © 2023 Cai et al.)