Representation of number in the brain.
Number symbols have allowed humans to develop superior mathematical skills that are a hallmark of technologically advanced cultures. Findings in animal cognition, developmental psychology, and anthropology indicate that these numerical skills are rooted in nonlinguistic biological primitives. Recent studies in human and nonhuman primates using a broad range of methodologies provide evidence that numerical information is represented and processed by regions of the prefrontal and posterior parietal lobes, with the intraparietal sulcus as a key node for the representation of the semantic aspect of numerical quantity.
Nieder
Andreas
A
Department of Animal Physiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. andreas.nieder@uni-tuebingen.de
Dehaene
Stanislas
S
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D011323:Primates / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D013561:Symbolism