Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

A labeled-line code for small and large numerosities in the monkey prefrontal cortex.

Andreas Nieder1, Katharina Merten

  • 1Department of Cognitive Neurology, Primate Neurocognition Laboratory, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tuebingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. andreas.nieder@uni-tuebingen.de

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|June 1, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
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
Same author

Investigating Menzerath's law in crows and humans during cued vocal 'counting'.

Animal cognition·2026

Single neurons use a "labeled-line code" to represent numerical quantity, not just stimulus magnitude. This finding in monkeys reveals neuronal precursors to human number competence.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Primate Behavior

Background:

  • The neural basis of numerical representation is debated, with models suggesting either summation coding for sensory magnitude or labeled-line coding for numerical quantity.
  • Previous studies on numerical quantity were limited by a narrow range of tested numerosities, hindering definitive conclusions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how single neurons in the prefrontal cortex represent a broad range of numerical quantities (1-30).
  • To determine whether neuronal representations align with behavioral responses and established psychophysical laws.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of both behavioral and single-unit neuronal responses in monkeys performing a numerosity discrimination task.
  • Examining tuning functions across a wide range of numerosities (1 to 30) to identify coding strategies.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Numerosity-selective neurons exhibited a labeled-line code, with nonmonotonic tuning functions peaking at preferred numerosities.
  • Both behavioral and neuronal tuning functions adhered to the Weber-Fechner Law, indicating a nonlinearly compressed scale for magnitude representation.
  • Findings align with human functional imaging data, suggesting conserved neural mechanisms for number processing.

Conclusions:

  • Single neurons in the primate prefrontal cortex employ a labeled-line code for representing numerical quantity.
  • This study provides evidence for neuronal precursors of human number competence in nonhuman primates.
  • The neural encoding of magnitude information is context-dependent, influenced by task demands and the type of magnitude being processed.