Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space
Perception of number and space are tightly intertwined. It has been proposed that this is due to ‘cortical recycling’, where numerosity processing takes over circuits originally processing space. Do such ‘recycled’ circuits retain their original functionality? Here, we investigate interactions betwe...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2016-01-01
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Series: | eLife |
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Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/10806 |
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author | Caspar M Schwiedrzik Benjamin Bernstein Lucia Melloni |
author_facet | Caspar M Schwiedrzik Benjamin Bernstein Lucia Melloni |
author_sort | Caspar M Schwiedrzik |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Perception of number and space are tightly intertwined. It has been proposed that this is due to ‘cortical recycling’, where numerosity processing takes over circuits originally processing space. Do such ‘recycled’ circuits retain their original functionality? Here, we investigate interactions between numerosity and motion direction, two functions that both localize to parietal cortex. We describe a new phenomenon in which visual motion direction adapts nonsymbolic numerosity perception, giving rise to a repulsive aftereffect: motion to the left adapts small numbers, leading to overestimation of numerosity, while motion to the right adapts large numbers, resulting in underestimation. The reference frame of this effect is spatiotopic. Together with the tuning properties of the effect this suggests that motion direction-numerosity cross-adaptation may occur in a homolog of area LIP. ‘Cortical recycling’ thus expands but does not obliterate the functions originally performed by the recycled circuit, allowing for shared computations across domains. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:18:10Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-807c92496c444715a143fd68795b14c0 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2050-084X |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:18:10Z |
publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
record_format | Article |
series | eLife |
spelling | doaj.art-807c92496c444715a143fd68795b14c02022-12-22T04:32:17ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2016-01-01510.7554/eLife.10806Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and spaceCaspar M Schwiedrzik0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0661-8859Benjamin Bernstein1Lucia Melloni2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8743-5071Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, New York, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, United StatesDepartment of Neurophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Department of Neurosurgery, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, United States; Department of Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, United StatesPerception of number and space are tightly intertwined. It has been proposed that this is due to ‘cortical recycling’, where numerosity processing takes over circuits originally processing space. Do such ‘recycled’ circuits retain their original functionality? Here, we investigate interactions between numerosity and motion direction, two functions that both localize to parietal cortex. We describe a new phenomenon in which visual motion direction adapts nonsymbolic numerosity perception, giving rise to a repulsive aftereffect: motion to the left adapts small numbers, leading to overestimation of numerosity, while motion to the right adapts large numbers, resulting in underestimation. The reference frame of this effect is spatiotopic. Together with the tuning properties of the effect this suggests that motion direction-numerosity cross-adaptation may occur in a homolog of area LIP. ‘Cortical recycling’ thus expands but does not obliterate the functions originally performed by the recycled circuit, allowing for shared computations across domains.https://elifesciences.org/articles/10806numerical cognitionvisual motionadaptationparietal cortexcortical recycling |
spellingShingle | Caspar M Schwiedrzik Benjamin Bernstein Lucia Melloni Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space eLife numerical cognition visual motion adaptation parietal cortex cortical recycling |
title | Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space |
title_full | Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space |
title_fullStr | Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space |
title_full_unstemmed | Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space |
title_short | Motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space |
title_sort | motion along the mental number line reveals shared representations for numerosity and space |
topic | numerical cognition visual motion adaptation parietal cortex cortical recycling |
url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/10806 |
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