title: Neural correlates of merging number words.
abstract: Complex number words (e.g., "twenty two") are formed by merging together several simple number words (e.g., "twenty" and "two"). In the present study, we explored the neural correlates of this operation and investigated to what extent it engages brain areas involved processing numerical quantity and linguistic syntactic structure. Participants speaking two typologically distinct languages, French and Chinese, were required to read aloud sequences of simple number words while their cerebral activity was recorded by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Each number word could either be merged with the previous ones (e.g., 'twenty three') or not (e.g., 'three twenty'), thus forming four levels ranging from lists of number words to complex numerals. When a number word could be merged with the preceding ones, it was named faster than when it could not. Neuroimaging results showed that the number of merges correlated with activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and in the left inferior parietal lobule. Consistent findings across Chinese and French participants suggest that these regions serve as the neural bases for forming complex number words in different languages.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan; Laboratories for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan; Haskins Laboratories, 300 George St, Suite 900, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Yi-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U992, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; CEA, DSV/I2BM, NeuroSpin Center, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Univ Paris-Sud, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Collège de France, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pallier
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U992, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; CEA, DSV/I2BM, NeuroSpin Center, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Univ Paris-Sud, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Collège de France, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Stanislas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dehaene
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan; Laboratories for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Taiwan; Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK.
authors.forename: Acer
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Brain Science Research Center, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan; The Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ovid J-L
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Tzeng
authors.affiliation: Laboratories for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Taiwan. Electronic address: denisewu@cc.ncu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Denise H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cross-cultural invariance; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Linguistic syntax; Number word; Structure building