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Action Potential

Action Potential

Neurons communicate by firing action potentials—the electrochemical signal that is propagated along the axon. The signal results in the release of neurotransmitters at axon terminals, thereby transmitting information to the nervous system. An action potential is a specific "all-or-none" change in membrane potential that results in a rapid spike in voltage.
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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Investigating Social Cognition in Infants and Adults Using Dense Array Electroencephalography dEEG

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Published on: June 27, 2011

Electrophysiological Evidence for A Number-Action Mapping in Infancy.

Gisella Decarli¹, Pia Rämä¹, Lionel Granjon¹

¹Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France.

|November 11, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Infants as young as 3-4 months show brain activity linking number processing and hand actions. This suggests the connection between numerical cognition and motor actions develops early in life.

Keywords:

EEG ERP action cueing paradigm grasping infancy numerosity

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Infant Cognition

Background:

Research indicates a link between number processing and action in adults.
The early development of this number-action association in infants remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether the association between number and hand action processing is functional in early infancy.
To examine infants' brain responses to congruent and incongruent number-hand pairings.

Main Methods:

Utilized event-related potential (ERP) technique to record brain activity in 3- to 4-month-old infants.
Employed a cueing paradigm presenting infants with congruent (e.g., large number, large hand) and incongruent (e.g., large number, small hand) visual stimuli.
Measured brain electrical activity over frontal and parietal-occipital scalp regions.

Main Results:

Infants' brain activity differed significantly between congruent and incongruent number-hand pairings.
Specific modulations in ERP amplitudes were observed over frontal and parietal-occipital areas.
These differences indicate infants processed the relationship between numerical magnitude and hand actions.

Conclusions:

The association between number and hand action processing is functional early in infancy.
Brain mechanisms supporting the integration of numerical information and motor representations are present from at least 3-4 months of age.
This study provides foundational evidence for the early emergence of number-action links in human cognition.