Numerosity representation is encoded in human subcortex
Numerosity representation is encoded in human subcortex
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1613982114
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发表时间：
2017-04-04
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Behrmann, Marlene
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Collins, Elliot;Park, Joonkoo;Behrmann, Marlene
某些数字能力似乎在动物王国中相对普遍存在，包括识别和区分相对数量的能力。这种技能存在于人类成年人和儿童中，以及非人类灵长类动物中，也许令人惊讶的是，尽管灵长类动物缺乏皮质计算能力，但诸如食蚊鱼和蜘蛛等低等物种也证明了这一点。数字能力的普遍存在表明，与数字任务相关的表征可能受到神经系统进化保守区域的影响。在这里，我们测试的假设，相对数量的评价是subserved在人类的低阶大脑结构。使用单眼/双视范例，在四个实验中，我们表明，歧视的显示器，包括大（5-80）和小（1-4）数量的点，促进单眼，皮层下部分的视觉系统。然而，只有当观察者评估3：1或4：1的较大比例时，情况才会如此，而不是更小的比例，更接近1：1。这种能力的轮廓与新生儿和其他物种能够区分数量的技能密切相关。这些研究结果表明，保护个体发育和胚胎发育的低阶系统在成年人的数字能力。皮层下结构参与数字量的表征，这引发了人们对当前数字认知神经基础理论的重新思考，因为它支持了生物系统在数字能力方面的跨物种连续性。
Certain numerical abilities appear to be relatively ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, including the ability to recognize and differentiate relative quantities. This skill is present in human adults and children, as well as in nonhuman primates and, perhaps surprisingly, is also demonstrated by lower species such as mosquitofish and spiders, despite the absence of cortical computation available to primates. This ubiquity of numerical competence suggests that representations that connect to numerical tasks are likely subserved by evolutionarily conserved regions of the nervous system. Here, we test the hypothesis that the evaluation of relative numerical quantities is subserved by lower-order brain structures in humans. Using a monocular/dichoptic paradigm, across four experiments, we show that the discrimination of displays, consisting of both large (5-80) and small (1-4) numbers of dots, is facilitated in the monocular, subcortical portions of the visual system. This is only the case, however, when observers evaluate larger ratios of 3:1 or 4:1, but not smaller ratios, closer to 1:1. This profile of competence matches closely the skill with which newborn infants and other species can discriminate numerical quantity. These findings suggest conservation of ontogenetically and phylogenetically lower-order systems in adults' numerical abilities. The involvement of subcortical structures in representing numerical quantities provokes a reconsideration of current theories of the neural basis of numerical cognition, inasmuch as it bolsters the cross-species continuity of the biological system for numerical abilities.