Are numbers grounded in a general magnitude processing system? A functional neuroimaging meta-analysis

Sokolowski, H. Moriah; Fias, Wim; Ononye, Chuka Bosah; Ansari, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.019

Cited by 117 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Recent years have seen an accumulation of evidence from neuroimaging studies showing that the processing of number and spatial extent elicit activations in overlapping brain areas, in particular within the parietal lobe (e.g., Dormal & Pesenti, 2009;Harvey et al, 2015;Pinel et al, 2004). These results have been taken by some as evidence that different kinds of quantities are processed by a generalized magnitude system (e.g., Bueti & Walsh, 2009;Leibovich et al, 2016;Sokolowski et al, 2017). In the current study, we aimed at directly investigating this hypothesis capitalizing on multivariate analyses of high resolution fMRI data, which are the state-of-the-art tool for investigating neural representational spaces and the unique way to isolate segregated representations if they occur at the level of finer-scale activation patterns within regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing number and length in the parietal cortex: Sharing resources, not a common code

Borghesani

Hevia

Viarouge

et al. 2019

Cortex

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A current intense discussion in numerical cognition concerns the relationship between the processing of numerosity and other non-numerical quantities. In particular, it is a matter of debate whether number and other quantities (e.g., size, length) are represented separately in the brain or whether they share a common generalized magnitude representation. We acquired high-resolution functional MRI data while adult subjects engaged in a magnitude comparison task involving either numerosity (i.e., which of the two sets has more elements?) or line length (i.e., which of the two lines is longer?). We compared the activation evoked by the two different types of quantity and observed a common recruitment of a vast portion of occipital and parietal cortices. Using MVPA, we demonstrated that some of the commonly activated regions represented the discrete and continuous quantities via a similar distance-dependent magnitude code. However, we found no effect of distance across the two quantity representations, failing to support the existence of a common, dimension invariant, generalized quantity code. Taken together, these findings indicate that although the processing of number and length is supported by partially overlapping neural resources, representations within these regions do not appear to be based on a common neural code.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing number and length in the parietal cortex: Sharing resources, not a common code

Borghesani

Hevia

Viarouge

et al. 2019

Cortex

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“…The second challenge to the link between number sense and symbolic numerical abilities comes directly from the search for the neural substrate of numerical magnitude perception. Both popular consensus in the field of numerical cognition and meta‐analyses of neuroimaging data have converged around the idea that numerical information of multiple formats and modalities is primarily processed in the superior parietal lobe, with the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) receiving the most attention in the literature. Notwithstanding the focus on the IPS as the substrate for number sense, longstanding models of numerical cognition do incorporate other specialized brain structures, such as an area in the ventral visual stream specialized for processing number symbols and perisylvian language areas for number words …”

Section: Challenge 2: the Case For A Singular Neural Substrate Of Nummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As another example, studies using single‐cell recording in both trained and stimulus‐naive monkeys have demonstrated that numerosity‐selective neurons exist in the lateral prefrontal cortex . The macaque lateral prefrontal cortex is likely a homologue of the human inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which is consistently active during numerical tasks according to recent meta‐analyses . Given this broad array of findings, the likelihood that number sense depends wholly, or even mostly, on parietal function is unlikely.…”

Section: Challenge 2: the Case For A Singular Neural Substrate Of Nummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5,108,109 The macaque lateral prefrontal cortex is likely a homologue of the human inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which is consistently active during numerical tasks according to recent metaanalyses. 95,96 Given this broad array of findings, the likelihood that number sense depends wholly, or even mostly, on parietal function is unlikely.…”

Section: Challenge 2: the Case For A Singular Neural Substrate Of Nummentioning

confidence: 99%

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Challenging the neurobiological link between number sense and symbolic numerical abilities

Wilkey

Ansari

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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A significant body of research links individual differences in symbolic numerical abilities, such as arithmetic, to number sense, the neurobiological system used to approximate and manipulate quantities without language or symbols. However, recent findings from cognitive neuroscience challenge this influential theory. Our current review presents an overview of evidence for the number sense account of symbolic numerical abilities and then reviews recent studies that challenge this account, organized around the following four assertions. (1) There is no number sense as traditionally conceived. (2) Neural substrates of number sense are more widely distributed than common consensus asserts, complicating the neurobiological evidence linking number sense to numerical abilities. (3) The most common measures of number sense are confounded by other cognitive demands, which drive key correlations. (4) Number sense and symbolic number systems (Arabic digits, number words, and so on) rely on distinct neural mechanisms and follow independent developmental trajectories. The review follows each assertion with comments on future directions that may bring resolution to these issues.

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“…Neuroimaging data have been used as evidence to support a general magnitude system. In humans, there is overlapping activation, as measured by BOLD in fMRI, for different magnitudes in and around the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) (Harvey, Fracasso, Petridou, & Dumoulin, 2015; for meta-analysis, see Sokolowski, Fias, Ononye, & Ansari, 2017). Behavioral findings of cognitive interactions for different combinations of magnitude dimensions have also been taken as evidence for a general magnitude system.…”

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confidence: 99%

Cross‐magnitude interactions across development: Longitudinal evidence for a general magnitude system

Lourenco

Aulet

2018

Developmental Science

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There is general agreement that humans represent numerical, spatial, and temporal magnitudes from early in development. However, there is disagreement about whether different magnitudes converge within a general magnitude system and whether this system supports behavioral demonstrations of cross-magnitude interactions at different developmental time points. Using a longitudinal design, we found a relation between children's cross-magnitude interactions assessed at two developmental time points with different behavioral measures. More specifically, stronger cross-magnitude interactions in infancy (M = 9.3 months) predicted a stronger cross-magnitude congruity effect at preschool age (M = 44.2 months), even when controlling for performance on measures of inhibitory control, analogical reasoning, and verbal competence at preschool age. The results suggest a common mechanism for cross-magnitude interactions at different points in development as well as stability of the underlying individual differences. We argue that this mechanism reflects a nonverbal general magnitude system that is operational early in life and that displays continuity from infancy to preschool age.

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Are numbers grounded in a general magnitude processing system? A functional neuroimaging meta-analysis

Cited by 117 publications

References 60 publications

Processing number and length in the parietal cortex: Sharing resources, not a common code

Processing number and length in the parietal cortex: Sharing resources, not a common code

Challenging the neurobiological link between number sense and symbolic numerical abilities

Cross‐magnitude interactions across development: Longitudinal evidence for a general magnitude system

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