Asymmetric prefrontal cortex functions predict asymmetries in number space

Bachmann, Valérie; Fischer, Martin H.; Landolt, Hans‐Peter; Brugger, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2010.08.011

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Alternatively, it can be proposed that due to dense white matter interconnections, a frontal lesion causes a general functional breakdown of the entire hemispheric number network, producing functional hypoactivation in the representations of small number magnitudes in structurally undamaged parietal areas. Our study confirmed that defective spatial working memory was correlated with biased bisection of number intervals (Doricchi et al, 2005(Doricchi et al, , 2009Bachmann et al, 2010;Fias et al, 2011: Rossetti et al, 2011van Dijck et al, 2011): this suggests that defective activation of small number representations could have been particularly detrimental for the bisection of large 7and 9-unit number intervals, because bisection of these intervals implies processing large sets of numerical items and stronger competition for cognitive resources in working memory, which can penalize items that are more weakly represented.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Based on previous findings (Doricchi et al, 2005(Doricchi et al, , 2009Bachmann et al, 2010;Fias et al, 2011;van Dijck et al, 2011), we also reinvestigated the correlations between measures of spatial (Corsi span) and verbal (Digit span) working memory and the indexes describing biases in the bisection of number intervals.…”

Section: Correlation Among Visual Neglect Neglect In Mental Number Space Imagery Neglect and Measures Of Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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No inherent left and right side in human ‘mental number line’: evidence from right brain damage

Aiello

Jacquin-Courtois

Merola

et al. 2012

Brain

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Spatial reasoning has a relevant role in mathematics and helps daily computational activities. It is widely assumed that in cultures with left-to-right reading, numbers are organized along the mental equivalent of a ruler, the mental number line, with small magnitudes located to the left of larger ones. Patients with right brain damage can disregard smaller numbers while mentally setting the midpoint of number intervals. This has been interpreted as a sign of spatial neglect for numbers on the left side of the mental number line and taken as a strong argument for the intrinsic left-to-right organization of the mental number line. Here, we put forward the understanding of this cognitive disability by discovering that patients with right brain damage disregard smaller numbers both when these are mapped on the left side of the mental number line and on the right side of an imagined clock face. This shows that the right hemisphere supports the representation of small numerical magnitudes independently from their mapping on the left or the right side of a spatial-mental layout. In addition, the study of the anatomical correlates through voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping and the mapping of lesion peaks on the diffusion tensor imaging-based reconstruction of white matter pathways showed that the rightward bias in the imagined clock-face was correlated with lesions of high-level middle temporal visual areas that code stimuli in object-centred spatial coordinates, i.e. stimuli that, like a clock face, have an inherent left and right side. In contrast, bias towards higher numbers on the mental number line was linked to white matter damage in the frontal component of the parietal-frontal number network. These anatomical findings show that the human brain does not represent the mental number line as an object with an inherent left and right side. We conclude that the bias towards higher numbers in the mental bisection of number intervals does not depend on left side spatial, imagery or object-centred neglect and that it rather depends on disruption of an abstract non-spatial representation of small numerical magnitudes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Correlation Among Visual Neglect Neglect In Mental Number Space Imagery Neglect and Measures Of Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

No inherent left and right side in human ‘mental number line’: evidence from right brain damage

Aiello

Jacquin-Courtois

Merola

et al. 2012

Brain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Evidence for such flexibility comes from dual-task paradigms, where left-hemisphere verbal memory load abolished SNAs in parity decisions but not in magnitude comparisons, whereas the opposite interference pattern occurred for right-hemisphere visual–spatial load (van Dijck et al, 2009). Hemispheric activation paradigms can also bias healthy subjects’ preference for small or large numbers during digit randomization (Loetscher and Brugger, 2007), and individual preferences for left- vs. right-hemisphere mediated tasks bias number choices toward higher or lower magnitudes (Bachmann et al, 2010). Finally, handedness, one of the most conspicuous signs of hemispheric specialization, does not influence SNAs per se (Dehaene et al, 1993).…”

Section: Grounded Embodied and Situated Magnitude Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Digits Help Digits: Spatial?Numerical Associations Point to Finger Counting as Prime Example of Embodied Cognition

Fischer¹,

Brugger²

2011

Front. Psychology

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210

206

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Spatial–numerical associations (SNAs) are prevalent yet their origin is poorly understood. We first consider the possible prime role of reading habits in shaping SNAs and list three observations that argue against a prominent influence of this role: (1) directional reading habits for numbers may conflict with those for non-numerical symbols, (2) short-term experimental manipulations can overrule the impact of decades of reading experience, (3) SNAs predate the acquisition of reading. As a promising alternative, we discuss behavioral, neuroscientific, and neuropsychological evidence in support of finger counting as the most likely initial determinant of SNAs. Implications of this “manumerical cognition” stance for the distinction between grounded, embodied, and situated cognition are discussed.

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“…Models that randomize the mitotic spindle angle have produced contradictory results. For instance, some models have shown spindle randomization to increase the oRG population ( Shitamukai et al, 2011 ), others have shown increased SVZ basal progenitors ( Postiglione et al, 2011 ), and others an early increase in neurogenesis causing progenitor depletion and microcephaly ( Bachmann et al, 2010 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ATRX is required for maintenance of the neuroprogenitor cell pool in the embryonic mouse brain

et al. 2014

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Mutations in the alpha-thalassemia mental retardation X-linked (ATRX) gene cause a spectrum of abnormalities including intellectual disability, developmental delay, seizures, and microcephaly. The ATRX protein is highly enriched at heterochromatic repetitive sequences adjacent to the centromere, and ATRX depletion results in chromosome congression, segregation, and cohesion defects. Here, we show that Cre-mediated inactivation of Atrx in the embryonic mouse (Mus musculus) brain results in expansion of cerebral cortical layer VI, and a concurrent thinning of layers II–IV. We observed increased cell cycle exit during early-mid neurogenesis, and a depletion of apical progenitors by late neurogenesis in the Atrx-null neocortex, explaining the disproportionate layering. Premature differentiation was associated with an increased generation of outer radial glia (oRG) and TBR2-expressing basal progenitors, as well as increased generation of early-born post-mitotic projection neurons. Atrx deletion also reduced the fidelity of mitotic spindle orientation in apical progenitors, where mutant cells were often oriented at non-parallel angles of division relative to the ventricular surface. We conclude that ATRX is required for correct lamination of the mouse neocortex by regulating the timing of neuroprogenitor cell differentiation.

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Asymmetric prefrontal cortex functions predict asymmetries in number space

Cited by 11 publications

References 48 publications

No inherent left and right side in human ‘mental number line’: evidence from right brain damage

No inherent left and right side in human ‘mental number line’: evidence from right brain damage

When Digits Help Digits: Spatial?Numerical Associations Point to Finger Counting as Prime Example of Embodied Cognition

ATRX is required for maintenance of the neuroprogenitor cell pool in the embryonic mouse brain

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