The representation of numerical magnitude

Brannon, Elizabeth M.

doi:10.1016/j.conb.2006.03.002

Cited by 204 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…It is well documented that the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is involved in processing numerical magnitude (for reviews see Brannon, 2006;Dehaene et al, 2003). It might well be that the IPS is used for coding magnitude in general (Walsh, 2003), whether numerical or non-numerical.…”

Section: Neuroimaging Debatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Human processing of numbers has intrigued researchers from various disciplines such as anthropology (Urton and Brezine, 2005), linguistics (Gordon, 2004;Pica et al, 2004;Wiese, 2003), psychology (Gallistel and Gelman, 1992;Gelman and Butterworth, 2005;Moyer and Landauer, 1967), and cognitive neuroscience (Brannon, 2006;Dehaene et al, 2003;Fias et al, 2003;Nieder, 2005). Previous reviews focused on the question whether the same representation exists for different notations of numbers (i.e., the issue of abstract numerical representation; Brannon, 2006;Dehaene et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous reviews focused on the question whether the same representation exists for different notations of numbers (i.e., the issue of abstract numerical representation; Brannon, 2006;Dehaene et al, 1998). In this paper we focus on the question whether the same representation exists for numbers and other types of magnitude.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Are numbers special? An overview of chronometric, neuroimaging, developmental and comparative studies of magnitude representation

Kadosh

Lammertyn

Izard

2008

Progress in Neurobiology

339

304

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There is a current debate whether the human brain possesses a shared representation for various types of magnitude such as numerical quantities, physical size, or loudness. Here, we critically review evidence from chronometric, neuroimaging, developmental and comparative fields, and supplement it with a meta-analysis of the neuroimaging data. Together, based on such an integrative overview, we discuss limitations inherent in each approach, and the possibility whether shared, or distinct magnitude representation, or both representations exist. #

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Section: Neuroimaging Debatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Are numbers special? An overview of chronometric, neuroimaging, developmental and comparative studies of magnitude representation

Kadosh

Lammertyn

Izard

2008

Progress in Neurobiology

339

304

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“…Several lines of research have shown that numerical processing is subserved by the bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS) (e.g., Arsalidou and Taylor, 2011;Butterworth, 1999;Dehaene et al, 1999;Eger et al, 2003;Kadosh et al, 2005Kadosh et al, , 2007Piazza et al, 2007;Thioux et al, 2005; see reviews by Brannon, 2006;Dehaene et al, 2003). First, patients with parietal lesions consistently show selective impairments in numerical skills (e.g., Dehaene and Cohen, 1997;Denes and Signorini, 2001;Grafman et al, 1982;Takayama et al, 1994;Warrington, 1982;Zorzi et al, 2002), whereas patients with lesions to other brain regions showed preservation of numerical skills (e.g., Butterworth et al, 2001;Cappelletti et al, 2001Cappelletti et al, , 2002Cappelletti et al, , 2005Crutch and Warrington, 2002;Diesfeldt, 1993;Jefferies et al, 2004Jefferies et al, , 2005Lemer et al, 2003;Zamarian et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural correlates of numbers and mathematical terms

2012

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Numerical processing has been demonstrated to be subserved typically by the brain regions around the bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS). The goal of the current study was to investigate whether the processing of mathematical terms shared the same brain regions with numerical processing. Healthy adult participants performed semantic distance judgment tasks on five types of materials, including geometric terms, algebraic terms, linguistic terms, words for tools and other common objects, and Arabic numbers. Brain activation was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The results showed that geometric terms had greater activation than algebraic terms, linguistic terms and tool words in the horizontal IPS, but algebraic terms did not have greater activation than linguistic terms and tool words in this region. Arabic numbers showed greater activation than non-number materials (including geometric terms, algebraic terms, linguistic terms and tool words) in the bilateral IPS, right inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral middle frontal gyrus, but the non-number materials showed stronger activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus. These results suggest that the brain area for the processing of numbers (the left IPS) seems to be involved in semantic processing of geometric terms, but not that of other mathematical terms such as algebraic terms. Both algebraic and geometric terms share similar brain organization with basic semantic processing in the left temporal and frontal regions.

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“…It has indeed been argued that the mental representation of numbers follows WeberFechner law, so that the larger the magnitudes, the noisier the corresponding mental representations (Dehaene, 2003). In accordance with this law, an Approximate Number System (ANS) would handle large non-symbolic number magnitudes (e.g., Brannon, 2006).…”

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confidence: 99%

Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks

Guillaumé

Gevers

2015

Psychological Research

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Whether our general numerical skills and the mathematical knowledge that we acquire at school are entwined is a debated issue, which many researchers are still striving to investigate.The findings reported in the literature are actually inconsistent; some studies emphasised the existence of a relationship between the acuity of the Approximate Number System (ANS) and arithmetic competence, while some others did not observe any significant correlation. One potential explanation of the discrepancy might stem from the evaluation of the ANS itself. In the present study, we correlated two measures used to index ANS acuity with arithmetic performance. These measures were the Weber fraction (w), computed from a numerical comparison task and the Coefficient of Variation (CV), computed from a numerical estimation task. Arithmetic performance correlated with estimation CV but not with comparison w. We further investigated the meaning of this result by taking the relationship between w and CV into account. We expected a tight relation as both these measures are believed to assess ANS acuity. Crucially however, w and CV did not correlate with each other. Moreover, the value of w was modulated by the congruity of the relation between numerical magnitude and nonnumerical visual cues, potentially accounting for the lack of correlation between the measures. Our findings thus challenge the overuse of w to assess ANS acuity and more generally put into question the relevance of correlating this measure with arithmetic without any deeper understanding of what they are really indexing.Abstract word count: 243 words.

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The representation of numerical magnitude

Cited by 204 publications

References 49 publications

Are numbers special? An overview of chronometric, neuroimaging, developmental and comparative studies of magnitude representation

Are numbers special? An overview of chronometric, neuroimaging, developmental and comparative studies of magnitude representation

Neural correlates of numbers and mathematical terms

Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks

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