Title
Different brains process numbers differently: Structural bases of individual differences in spatial and nonspatial number representations
Abstract
dominant hypothesis on how the brain processes numerical size proposes a spatial representation of numbers as positions on a "mental number line." An alternative hypothesis considers numbers as elements of a generalized representation of sensorimotor-related magnitude, which is not obligatorily spatial. Here we show that individuals' relative use of spatial and nonspatial representations has a cerebral counterpart in the structural organization of the posterior parietal cortex. Interindividual variability in the linkage between numbers and spatial responses faster left responses to small numbers and right responses to large numbers; spatial-numerical association of response codes effect correlated with variations in gray matter volume around the right precuneus. Conversely, differences in the disposition to link numbers to force production faster soft responses to small numbers and hard responses to large numbers were related to gray matter volume in the left angular gyrus. This finding suggests that numerical cognition relies on multiple mental representations of analogue magnitude using different neural implementations that are linked to individual traits.
Year
DOI
Venue
2014
10.1162/jocn_a_00518
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Field
DocType
Volume
Magnitude (mathematics),Alternative hypothesis,Neuroscience,Cognitive psychology,Psychology,Posterior parietal cortex,Spatial representation,Numerical cognition,Mental representation,Gray (unit),Number line
Journal
26
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
4
1530-8898
2
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.50
10
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Florian Krause121.85
Oliver Lindemann2152.09
Ivan Toni315151.93
Harold Bekkering410813.49