Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Spinal Cord: Information Processing

Spinal Cord: Information Processing

The spinal cord is an integral hub for motor and sensory information that enables the brain to communicate with the peripheral nervous system (PNS). This communication consists of relaying sensory data and transmission of motor commands.
Sensory Information Processing
Sensory information processing begins at the sensory receptors located in the skin and other tissues, which detect somatic sensory stimuli such as touch, temperature, or pain. These receptors function as catalysts, initiating...

Parallel Processing

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...

Storage

Storage

A schema is a mental framework that helps individuals organize and interpret information. Schemata, formed from previous experiences, influence how we process new information: how we encode it, the inferences we make, and how we retrieve it. For instance, a schema for what a typical classroom looks like might include desks, a teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and students in such an environment. This expectation helps us quickly understand and navigate new classrooms without needing to analyze each...

Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development

The preoperational stage, the second of Jean Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, spans approximately ages 2 to 7 and is characterized by the emergence of symbolic thinking. During this stage, children use language, images, and symbols to represent objects and concepts, enabling them to engage in imaginative and pretend play. This symbolic thinking supports children's ability to perform make-believe actions, such as imagining a broom as a horse or their hand as a phone, blending...

Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development

During Piaget's concrete operational stage, from ages 7 to 11, children exhibit a marked increase in logical thinking skills, specifically in relation to tangible, real-world events. This stage is characterized by the development of several essential cognitive concepts, including conservation, reversibility, and classification, all of which support the child's evolving capacity for structured thought.
Conservation and Constancy of Quantity
A significant cognitive milestone in the concrete...

Piaget's Stage 4 of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Stage 4 of Cognitive Development

The formal operational stage, as described in Piaget's cognitive development theory, begins around age 11 and extends into adulthood. It marks the emergence of advanced cognitive abilities that differentiate adolescent and adult thinking from those of younger children. This stage is characterized by abstract reasoning, hypothetical-deductive reasoning, and a more complex understanding of self and others.
Abstract Reasoning and Hypothetical-Deductive Thinking
Unlike the concrete operational...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Mechanisms of premotor-motor cortex interactions during movement initiation.

Cell reports·2026

Same author

Sensorimotor transformation of number in the primate parietal cortex.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Feathered primate of the air: the carrion crow as model in cognitive neuroscience.

Lab animal·2026

Same author

Dopamine D1 and D2 receptors differentially control strength and dynamics of abstract decision codes in the primate prefrontal cortex.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

Reaction-time signatures reveal divergent cognitive strategies underlying numerical decisions in monkeys and crows.

Cognition·2026

Same author

Coordinated parieto-frontal neuronal communication is critical for abstract quantity judgments in primates.

Cell reports·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 7, 2026

High-resolution Live Imaging of Cell Behavior in the Developing Neuroepithelium

High-resolution Live Imaging of Cell Behavior in the Developing Neuroepithelium

Published on: April 12, 2012

Temporal and spatial enumeration processes in the primate parietal cortex.

Andreas Nieder¹, Ilka Diester, Oana Tudusciuc

¹Primate NeuroCognition Laboratory, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Strasse 27, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. andreas.nieder@uni-tuebingen.de

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|September 9, 2006

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals distinct neural pathways for processing numbers presented over time versus space. Ultimately, the brain converges this information into abstract quantity representations.

More Related Videos

Monitoring the Mechanical Evolution of Tissue During Neural Tube Closure of Chick Embryo

Monitoring the Mechanical Evolution of Tissue During Neural Tube Closure of Chick Embryo

Published on: November 10, 2023

Time-Lapse Imaging of Migrating Neurons and Glial Progenitors in Embryonic Mouse Brain Slices

Time-Lapse Imaging of Migrating Neurons and Glial Progenitors in Embryonic Mouse Brain Slices

Published on: March 8, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 7, 2026

High-resolution Live Imaging of Cell Behavior in the Developing Neuroepithelium

High-resolution Live Imaging of Cell Behavior in the Developing Neuroepithelium

Published on: April 12, 2012

Monitoring the Mechanical Evolution of Tissue During Neural Tube Closure of Chick Embryo

Monitoring the Mechanical Evolution of Tissue During Neural Tube Closure of Chick Embryo

Published on: November 10, 2023

Time-Lapse Imaging of Migrating Neurons and Glial Progenitors in Embryonic Mouse Brain Slices

Time-Lapse Imaging of Migrating Neurons and Glial Progenitors in Embryonic Mouse Brain Slices

Published on: March 8, 2024

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Comparative Psychology

Background:

Humans and animals possess nonverbal numerical abilities, including enumerating sequences over time and estimating spatial patterns.
These abilities are crucial for survival and complex behaviors, yet their underlying neural mechanisms remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural basis of nonverbal enumeration in both temporal and spatial domains.
To determine if distinct or overlapping neural populations process numerical information presented sequentially versus simultaneously.

Main Methods:

Electrophysiological recordings were conducted in the intraparietal sulcus of behaving monkeys during numerical tasks.
Monkeys performed tasks requiring temporal enumeration (counting items in sequence) and spatial enumeration (estimating dot pattern set size).
Neuronal activity was analyzed to identify populations responding selectively to temporal, spatial, or abstract numerical information.

Main Results:

Temporal and spatial enumeration engaged distinct neuronal populations within the intraparietal sulcus.
A separate neuronal population represented the set's cardinality irrespective of the presentation format (temporal or spatial).
This suggests a convergence of numerical information into a format-independent representation.

Conclusions:

Numerical processing involves distinct early stages for different sensory formats (temporal vs. spatial).
A later stage of neural processing integrates this information into abstract quantity representations.
These findings illuminate the hierarchical organization of numerical cognition in the brain.