The divisive normalization model of visual number sense: model predictions and experimental confirmation

Our intuitive sense of number allows rapid estimation for the number of objects (numerosity) in a scene. How does the continuous nature of neural information processing create a discrete representation of number? A neurocomputational model with divisive normalization explains this process and existing data; however, a successful model should not only explain existing data but also generate novel predictions. Here, we experimentally test novel predictions of this model to evaluate its merit for explaining mechanisms of numerosity perception. We did so by consideration of the coherence illusion: the underestimation of number for arrays containing heterogeneous compared to homogeneous items. First, we established the existence of the coherence illusion for homogeneity manipulations of both area and orientation of items in an array. Second, despite the behavioral similarity, the divisive normalization model predicted that these two illusions should reflect activity in different stages of visual processing. Finally, visual evoked potentials from an electroencephalography experiment confirmed these predictions, showing that area and orientation coherence modulate brain responses at distinct latencies and topographies. These results demonstrate the utility of the divisive normalization model for explaining numerosity perception, according to which numerosity perception is a byproduct of canonical neurocomputations that exist throughout the visual pathway.