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Published on: September 22, 2014
Inter-individual, hemispheric and sex variability of brain activations during numerosity processing
Zhongyao Zang1, Xiaoyue Chi1, Mengkai Luan2
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
Brain activity for number sense varies significantly between individuals, sexes, and hemispheres. This study mapped these differences using fMRI, revealing substantial inter-individual variability in numerosity processing regions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Numerosity perception is a fundamental cognitive ability present in humans and animals.
- Prior research focused on consistent neural activations for number processing, neglecting individual differences.
- The variability in brain activations related to numerosity perception across individuals is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify functional brain regions involved in numerosity perception.
- To investigate inter-individual, hemispheric, and sex-based differences in these brain activations.
- To create a functional probabilistic atlas for quantifying individual variability in numerosity processing.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a large-scale functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset (n=460).
- Delineated 15 subject-specific activated regions, including the anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG).
- Developed a functional probabilistic atlas to quantify individual variability in brain activations.
Main Results:
- Most identified regions showed over 60% activation, but cross-individual overlap was below 50%, indicating significant variability.
- Significant hemispheric differences were observed, with the right hemisphere generally showing larger activation volumes and magnitudes.
- Males exhibited stronger activations than females in most numerosity-related brain regions.
Conclusions:
- There are substantial inter-individual, hemispheric, and sex differences in brain activations underlying numerosity processing.
- The developed probabilistic atlas provides a valuable reference for mapping numerosity-related neural networks.
- Understanding this variability is crucial for a comprehensive model of numerical cognition.
