scholarly journals Canine sense of quantity: evidence for numerical ratio-dependent activation in parietotemporal cortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 20190666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren S. Aulet ◽  
Veronica C. Chiu ◽  
Ashley Prichard ◽  
Mark Spivak ◽  
Stella F. Lourenco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Number System ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Numerical Estimation ◽  
Extensive Training ◽  
Ratio Dependent ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Number Perception

The approximate number system (ANS), which supports the rapid estimation of quantity, emerges early in human development and is widespread across species. Neural evidence from both human and non-human primates suggests the parietal cortex as a primary locus of numerical estimation, but it is unclear whether the numerical competencies observed across non-primate species are subserved by similar neural mechanisms. Moreover, because studies with non-human animals typically involve extensive training, little is known about the spontaneous numerical capacities of non-human animals. To address these questions, we examined the neural underpinnings of number perception using awake canine functional magnetic resonance imaging. Dogs passively viewed dot arrays that varied in ratio and, critically, received no task-relevant training or exposure prior to testing. We found evidence of ratio-dependent activation, which is a key feature of the ANS, in canine parietotemporal cortex in the majority of dogs tested. This finding is suggestive of a neural mechanism for quantity perception that has been conserved across mammalian evolution.

scholarly journals Canine sense of quantity: evidence for numerical ratio-dependent activation in parietotemporal cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren S. Aulet ◽  
Veronica C. Chiu ◽  
Ashley Prichard ◽  
Mark Spivak ◽  
Stella F. Lourenco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Number System ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Numerical Estimation ◽  
Extensive Training ◽  
Ratio Dependent ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Number Perception

AbstractThe approximate number system, which supports the rapid estimation of quantity, emerges early in human development and is widespread across species. Neural evidence from both human and non-human primates suggests the parietal cortex as a primary locus of numerical estimation, but it is unclear whether the numerical competencies observed across non-primate species are subserved by similar neural mechanisms. Moreover, because studies with non-human animals typically involve extensive training, little is known about the spontaneous numerical capacities of non-human animals. To address these questions, we examined the neural underpinnings of number perception using awake canine functional magnetic resonance imaging. Dogs passively viewed dot arrays that varied in ratio and, critically, received no task-relevant training or exposure prior to testing. We found evidence of ratio-dependent activation, which is a key feature of the approximate number system, in canine parietotemporal cortex in the majority of dogs tested. This finding is suggestive of a neural mechanism for quantity perception that has been conserved across mammalian evolution.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological Evidence for the Involvement of the Approximate Number System in Preschoolers' Processing of Spoken Number Words

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1891-1904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Pinhas ◽  
Sarah E. Donohue ◽  
Marty G. Woldorff ◽  
Elizabeth M. Brannon
Keyword(s):  
Number System ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Word Comprehension ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
Number Representations ◽  
Word Onset ◽  
Neural Underpinnings

Little is known about the neural underpinnings of number word comprehension in young children. Here we investigated the neural processing of these words during the crucial developmental window in which children learn their meanings and asked whether such processing relies on the Approximate Number System. ERPs were recorded as 3- to 5-year-old children heard the words one, two, three, or six while looking at pictures of 1, 2, 3, or 6 objects. The auditory number word was incongruent with the number of visual objects on half the trials and congruent on the other half. Children's number word comprehension predicted their ERP incongruency effects. Specifically, children with the least number word knowledge did not show any ERP incongruency effects, whereas those with intermediate and high number word knowledge showed an enhanced, negative polarity incongruency response (Ninc) over centroparietal sites from 200 to 500 msec after the number word onset. This negativity was followed by an enhanced, positive polarity incongruency effect (Pinc) that emerged bilaterally over parietal sites at about 700 msec. Moreover, children with the most number word knowledge showed ratio dependence in the Pinc (larger for greater compared with smaller numerical mismatches), a hallmark of the Approximate Number System. Importantly, a similar modulation of the Pinc from 700 to 800 msec was found in children with intermediate number word knowledge. These results provide the first neural correlates of spoken number word comprehension in preschoolers and are consistent with the view that children map number words onto approximate number representations before they fully master the verbal count list.

scholarly journals The relationship between children’s approximate number certainty and symbolic mathematics

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-65
Author(s):  
Carolyn Baer ◽  
Darko Odic
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Number System ◽  
Math Performance ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Mathematical Skills ◽  
Math Ability ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Number Perception ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Symbolic Number

Why do some children excel in mathematics while others struggle? A large body of work has shown positive correlations between children’s Approximate Number System (ANS) and school-taught symbolic mathematical skills, but the mechanism explaining this link remains unknown. One potential mediator of this relationship might be children’s numerical metacognition: children’s ability to evaluate how sure or unsure they are in understanding and manipulating numbers. While previous work has shown that children’s math abilities are uniquely predicted by symbolic numerical metacognition, we focus on the extent to which children’s non-symbolic/ANS numerical metacognition, in particular sensitivity to certainty, might be predictive of math ability, and might mediate the relationship between the ANS and symbolic math. A total of 72 children aged 4–6 years completed measures of ANS precision, ANS metacognition sensitivity, and the Test of Early Mathematical Ability (TEMA-3). Our results replicate many established findings in the literature, including the correlation between ANS precision and the TEMA-3, particularly on the Informal subtype questions. However, we did not find that ANS metacognition sensitivity was related to TEMA-3 performance, nor that it mediated the relationship between the ANS and the TEMA-3. These findings suggest either that metacognitive calibration may play a larger role than metacognitive sensitivity, or that metacognitive differences in the non-symbolic number perception do not robustly contribute to symbolic math performance.

Weighted numbers

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mila Marinova ◽  
Marta Fedele ◽  
Bert Reynvoet
Keyword(s):  
Number System ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Number Perception

Abstract Clarke and Beck (C&B) discuss in their sections on congruency and confounds (sects. 3 and 4) literature that has challenged the claim that the approximate number system (ANS) represents numerical content. We argue that the propositions put forward by these studies aren't that far from the indirect model of number perception suggested by C&B.

The Perception of Structure from Visual Motion in Monkey and Man

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Siegel ◽  
R. A. Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Visual Motion ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Motion Stimulus ◽  
Extensive Training ◽  
Surface Representations

The ability to perceive structure using motion information was examined using a reaction time task with two primate species. Homo sapien and Macaca mulatta subjects were quantitatively tested under identical conditions to detect the change from a control unstructured to a test structured motion stimulus. The structures underlying the test were rotations of a plane, expansion of a plane, and a rotation of a three-dimensional cylinder. On many of the stimulus conditions, the two species performed similarly, although there were some species differences. These differences may be due to the extensive training of the monkeys or the use of different cognitive strategies by the human subjects. These data provide support for the existence of a neural mechanism that uses flow fields to construct two- or three-dimensional surface representations.

scholarly journals Perceived number is not abstract

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren S. Aulet ◽  
Stella F. Lourenco
Keyword(s):  
Number System ◽  
Rational Numbers ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Visual Illusions ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Number Perception

Abstract To support the claim that the approximate number system (ANS) represents rational numbers, Clarke and Beck (C&B) argue that number perception is abstract and characterized by a second-order character. However, converging evidence from visual illusions and psychophysics suggests that perceived number is not abstract, but rather, is perceptually interdependent with other magnitudes. Moreover, number, as a concept, is second-order, but number, as a percept, is not.

scholarly journals Connecting visual objects reduces perceived numerosity and density for sparse but not dense patterns

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Anobile ◽  
Guido Marco Cicchini ◽  
Antonella Pomè ◽  
David Charles Burr
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Apparent Density ◽  
Number System ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Moderate Density ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
Texture Density ◽  
Connecting The Dots ◽  
Number Perception ◽  
Clear Support

How is numerosity encoded by the visual system? – directly, or derived indirectly from texture density? We recently suggested that the numerosity of sparse patterns is encoded directly by dedicated mechanisms (which have been described as the “Approximate Number System” ANS). However, at high dot densities, where items become “crowded” and difficult to segregate, “texture-density” mechanisms come into play. Here we tested the importance of item segmentation on numerosity and density perception at various stimulus densities, by measuring the effect of connecting visual objects with thin lines. The results confirmed many previous studies showing that connecting items robustly reduces the apparent numerosity of patterns of moderate density. We further showed that the apparent density of moderate-density patterns is also reduced by connecting the dots. Crucially, we found that both these effects are strongly reduced at higher numerosities. Indeed for density judgments, the effect reverses, so connecting dots in dense patterns increases the apparent density (as expected from the physical characteristics). The results provide clear support for the three-regime framework of number perception, and suggest that for moderately sparse stimuli, numerosity – but not texture-density – is perceived directly.

scholarly journals Estimation as analogy-making: Evidence that preschoolers’ analogical reasoning ability predicts their numerical estimation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Alvarez ◽  
Monica Abdul-Chani ◽  
Paul Michael Deutchman ◽  
Kayla Dibiasie ◽  
Julia Iannucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Number System ◽  
Reasoning Ability ◽  
Approximate Number System ◽  
Numerical Estimation ◽  
Structure Mapping ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Number Systems ◽  
Linguistic Representations

All humans and many animals can represent approximate quantities of perceptual objects nonlinguistically by using the Approximate Number System (Dehaene, 1997/2011). Early in life, children in numerate societies also learn to describe this system using number words. How do linguistic representations of number become related to nonlinguistic representations of number? We hypothesize that the analogical process of structure mapping (Gentner, 1983) helps children to form mappings between the linguistic and nonlinguistic number systems on the basis of structural similarities between the two systems. To test this, we tested and analyzed 47 four-and-five year olds’ performance on estimation and analogy tasks. We found that analogical reasoning ability uniquely predicted several components of estimation performance, even when controlling for other domain-general cognitive skills. This provides strong evidence that analogical processes are uniquely related to the development of early estimation.

scholarly journals Antagonism between brain regions relevant for cognitive control and emotional memory facilitates the generation of humorous ideas

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Bitsch ◽  
Philipp Berger ◽  
Andreas Fink ◽  
Arne Nagels ◽  
Benjamin Straube ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Frontal Brain ◽  
Successful Resolution ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe ability to generate humor gives rise to positive emotions and thus facilitate the successful resolution of adversity. Although there is consensus that inhibitory processes might be related to broaden the way of thinking, the neural underpinnings of these mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a humorous alternative uses task and a stroop task, to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying the emergence of humorous ideas in 24 subjects. Neuroimaging results indicate that greater cognitive control abilities are associated with increased activation in the amygdala, the hippocampus and the superior and medial frontal gyrus during the generation of humorous ideas. Examining the neural mechanisms more closely shows that the hypoactivation of frontal brain regions is associated with an hyperactivation in the amygdala and vice versa. This antagonistic connectivity is concurrently linked with an increased number of humorous ideas and enhanced amygdala responses during the task. Our data therefore suggests that a neural antagonism previously related to the emergence and regulation of negative affective responses, is linked with the generation of emotionally positive ideas and may represent an important neural pathway supporting mental health.

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