Neuronal representation of number and proportion in the primate brain

作者：Vallentin Daniela; Jacob Simon N; Nieder Andreas^*

来源：Neuroforum, 2012, 18(2): 196-203.

• numerical competence
• single cell recordings
• functional magnetic resonance tomography
• prefrontal cortex
• parietal cortex

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, where single neurons are tuned to preferred magnitudes. Until recently, data exploring ratios of quantities, as in proportions and fractions, were comparatively sparse. New data derived with complementary methods and from different model systems now shed light on the mechanisms of magnitude ratio representations. A coding scheme for proportions has emerged that is highly reminiscent of the representation of absolute number. The magnitude code is automatic, independent of language and the format of presentation. These findings suggest that the primate brain houses a phylogenetically old network for the representation of quantity that during human evolution has been coopted to build our remarkable sense of number.

• 出版日期2012-6