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What's Behind a "+" Sign? Perceiving an Arithmetic Operator Recruits Brain Circuits for Spatial Orienting
Romain Mathieu1,2, Justine Epinat-Duclos1, Monica Sigovan3
1Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5304, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Lyon 1, Bron, France.
Mathematical symbols like the plus sign activate brain regions for spatial attention. This spatial intuition may play a role in arithmetic calculation, suggesting symbols inherently evoke spatial representations.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Mathematical Cognition
Background:
- Behavioral studies suggest interactions between spatial processing and Arabic digit comprehension.
- The interpretation of these spatial-digit interactions remains debated in cognitive science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if brain regions supporting spatial processing are activated by mathematical symbols, specifically operation signs, independent of digits.
- To determine if the spatial activation differs based on the type of arithmetic operation.
- To explore the relationship between spatial activation and performance in arithmetic tasks.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity in adults.
- Participants viewed mathematical symbols, including '+' and '×' signs.
- Brain activity in spatial processing regions was analyzed in response to symbol perception and correlated with performance on a subsequent addition task (operator-priming).
Main Results:
- Perceiving a '+' sign activated brain regions associated with spatial attention.
- Activation was greater for '+' signs compared to '×' signs, suggesting modulation by the evoked numerical manipulation.
- The extent of spatial region activation correlated with benefits observed in operator-priming during an addition task.
Conclusions:
- Mathematical operators, such as the plus sign, are linked to spatial intuitions.
- These spatial intuitions may contribute to the cognitive processes involved in arithmetic calculation.
- The findings support the hypothesis that mathematical symbols inherently trigger spatial representations in the brain.
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