Work

Numerical processing in the human parietal cortex during experimental and natural conditions

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Human cognition is traditionally studied in experimental conditions wherein confounding complexities of the natural environment are intentionally eliminated. Thus, it remains unknown how a brain region involved in a particular experimental condition is engaged in natural conditions. Here we use electrocorticography to address this uncertainty in three participants implanted with intracranial electrodes and identify activations of neuronal populations within the intraparietal sulcus region during an experimental arithmetic condition. In a subsequent analysis, we report that the same intraparietal sulcus neural populations are activated when participants, engaged in social conversations, refer to objects with numerical content. Our prototype approach provides a means for both exploring human brain dynamics as they unfold in complex social settings and reconstructing natural experiences from recorded brain signals. Human neuronal activity during cognitive processing is usually studied under experimental conditions but activity under natural conditions is poorly understood. Here the authors develop a method to accurately characterize the activity of the same neuronal population under both conditions.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3528

Authors: Mohammad Dastjerdi, Muge Ozker, Brett L. Foster, Vinitha Rangarajan, Josef Parvizi

Institutions: Stanford University, Stanford Medicine

Language: English

Topic: Neural dynamics and brain function

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $6,990

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke