Cortical representations of numbers and nonsymbolic quantities expand and segregate in children from 5 to 8 years of age.

ABSTRACT: Number symbols, such as Arabic numerals, are cultural inventions that have transformed human mathematical skills. Although their acquisition is at the core of early elementary education in children, it remains unknown how the neural representations of numerals emerge during that period. It is also unclear whether these relate to an ontogenetically earlier sense of approximate quantity. Here, we used multivariate fMRI adaptation coupled with within- and between-format machine learning to probe the cortical representations of Arabic numerals and approximate nonsymbolic quantity in 89 children either at the beginning (age 5) or four years into formal education (age 8). Although the cortical representations of both numerals and nonsymbolic quantities expanded from age 5 to age 8, these represe

SUBMITTER: Nakai T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9815645 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature