Advanced search×

Numerical representation in the parietal lobes: abstract or not abstract?

Roi Cohen Kadosh and Vincent Walsh

Behav Brain Sci 32(3-4):313-28; discussion 328-73 (2009) PMID 19712504

The study of neuronal specialisation in different cognitive and perceptual domains is important for our understanding of the human brain, its typical and atypical development, and the evolutionary precursors of cognition. Central to this understanding is the issue of numerical representation, and the question of whether numbers are represented in an abstract fashion. Here we discuss and challenge the claim that numerical representation is abstract. We discuss the principles of cortical organisation with special reference to number and also discuss methodological and theoretical limitations that apply to numerical cognition and also to the field of cognitive neuroscience in general. We argue that numerical representation is primarily non-abstract and is supported by different neuronal populations residing in the parietal cortex.

DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X09990938
Version: za2963e q8zaa q8zb8 q8zc0 q8zd5 q8zec q8zf7 q8zg5

Similar articles you may find interesting…

  1. q-deformations of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory: Classification, categorification and refinement
    Richard J Szabo and Miguel Tierz

    arXiv:1305.1580 [hep-th] 7 May 2013

    We characterise the quantum group gauge symmetries underlying q-deformations Of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory by studying their relationships with the Matrix models that appear in Chern-Simons theory and six-dimensional N=2 gauge Theories, together with their refinements and supersymmetric exten...
    View PDF
  2. Large-Scale Analysis of Peptide Sequence Variants: The Case for High-Field Asymmetric Waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry.
    Andrew J Creese, Jade Smart, and Helen J Cooper

    Anal Chem (2013) PMID 23646896

    We present a systematic study of the benefits of FAIMS for a key challenge in proteomics, that of peptide isomers. We have applied FAIMS to the analysis of a phosphopeptide library comprising the sequences GPSGXVpSXAQLX(K/R) and SXPFKXpSPLXFG(K/R), where X = ADEFGLSTVY. The library has defined limit...
  3. Compartmentalization of GABAergic inhibition by dendritic spines.
    Chiayu Q Chiu, Gyorgy Lur, and Michael J Higley

    Science 340(6133):759-62 (2013) PMID 23661763

    We show that somatostatin-expressing interneurons exert compartmentalized control over postsynaptic Ca(2+) signals within individual dendritic spines. This highly focal inhibitory action is mediated by a subset of GABAergic synapses that directly target spine heads. GABAergic inhibition thus partici...