The numerical ratio effect in BOLD activity appears in superior parietal cortex in adults but in inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, and thalamus in children, with no group-level parietal ratio effect in children¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q3
Currency · newest study 2009 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2014: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Adults showed significant numerical ratio effects in precentral gyrus and superior parietal cortex; children showed ratio-dependent activity in IFG, precentral gyrus, and thalamus but not superior parietal cortex. → Cantlon Jessica F. 2009

Evidence¶

Cantlon Jessica F. 2009¶

Cantlon Jessica F., Libertus Melissa E., Pinel Philippe, Dehaene Stanislas, Brannon Elizabeth M., Pelphrey Kevin A. (2009). The Neural Development of an Abstract Concept of Number. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2008.21159

q3 · i? · causal · r1

Subject-specific ROI analysis (15 strongest voxels per region) testing ratio modulation of BOLD activity within conjunction-defined regions, shown in Figure 5. The analysis was orthogonal to the conjunction contrast defining the voxels.

"In adults, regions that evoked (1) a significant response to both Arabic numerals and dot arrays and (2) a significant numerical ratio effect included the pre-central gyrus and superior parietal cortex. Children exhibited ratio-dependent activity in the IFG, the pre-central gyrus, and the thalamus. Unlike adults, children did not exhibit a significant ratio effect in superior parietal cortex."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Among children, differences in Arabic numeral performance are associated with ratio-dependent BOLD differences in left superior parietal cortex and right OTC, but dot array performance differences show no such brain differences — related
• In children, the BOLD numerical ratio effect correlates with individual differences in the behavioral ratio effect in right OTC, left superior parietal cortex, and bilateral IFG; no such correlation reaches significance in adults — related
• Children show greater inferior frontal gyrus activity than adults during numerical comparisons, while adults show greater left superior parietal activity than children — related
• In a number comparison task, adults outperform 6- to 7-year-old children in accuracy, Arabic numerals are easier than dot arrays, and easy 0.5 ratios are easier than difficult 0.8 ratios — related
• Response times in number comparison show group, notation, and ratio main effects, with a larger ratio effect for dot arrays than Arabic numerals — related
• Functional connectivity between parietal cortex and occipito-temporal cortex during numerical processing is present in adults but absent in children, whose IFG instead correlates with both regions — related
• Children and adults engage a common network of occipito-temporal, precentral, and superior parietal cortices during numerical judgments of both Arabic numerals and dot arrays — related
• A graded left superior parietal retrieval-success effect emerges by age 12 but is absent in 8-year-olds — related
• Numerosity comparison accuracy is ratio-dependent across grades three to five — related