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Related Concept Videos

Parallel Processing01:20

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...
Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at the...
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...
Auditory Pathway01:15

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

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Related Experiment Video

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Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices
08:49

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Number processing pathways in human parietal cortex.

Seppe Santens1, Chantal Roggeman, Wim Fias

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, Ghent, Belgium.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|May 12, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The human brain processes numbers using the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). A newly found area in the superior parietal cortex is key for processing nonsymbolic quantities before they become number-selective in the IPS.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroimaging

Background:

  • The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is crucial for numerical processing, with neurons showing number selectivity.
  • Human neuroimaging studies indicate number-selective processing in the anterior IPS.
  • The intermediate steps converting visual input into number-selective codes are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify number-sensitive brain areas involved in processing nonsymbolic quantities.
  • To investigate the neural pathways for processing symbolic versus nonsymbolic quantities.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to find brain areas with increasing activation correlating with increasing number, controlling for nonnumerical factors.
  • Connectivity analysis was employed to examine distinct processing pathways.

Main Results:

  • An area in the posterior superior parietal cortex was identified as a substrate for intermediate number-sensitive processing of nonsymbolic quantities.
  • Connectivity analysis revealed that processing nonsymbolic quantities involves the superior parietal cortex, while symbolic quantity processing follows a different pathway to the IPS.

Conclusions:

  • The human brain utilizes distinct neural pathways for processing symbolic and nonsymbolic quantities.
  • A number-sensitive area in the superior parietal cortex plays a critical role in the early stages of nonsymbolic numerical cognition.