Work

A parieto-frontal network for visual numerical information in the monkey

Year: 2004

Type: article

Abstract: Recent electrophysiological studies in monkeys have implicated the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in numerical judgments. The functional organization and respective contributions of these (and other) cortical areas, however, are unknown; their neural activity during numerical judgments has not been directly compared. We surveyed activity in the PPC and the anterior inferior temporal cortex while monkeys performed a visual numerosity judgment task and compared it with a population of PFC neurons. In the PPC, the proportion of numerosity-selective neurons was highest in the fundus of the intraparietal sulcus; only few numerosity-selective neurons were found in other PPC areas or the anterior inferior temporal cortex. Further, neurons in the fundus of the intraparietal sulcus responded and conveyed numerosity earlier than PFC neurons, suggesting that numerosity information flows from the PPC to the lateral PFC. This finding suggests a parieto-frontal network for numerosity in monkeys and establishes homologies between the monkey and human brain.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0402239101

Authors: Andreas Nieder, Earl K. Miller

Institutions: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Institutes of Health, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen

Language: English

Topic: Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health

Awards: G3241928955, Neural Basis of Categories