biostudies-literatureUnknownLuu PNINDS NIH HHSNumber sense, the ability to discriminate the quantity of objects, is crucial for survival. To understand how neurons work together and develop to mediate number sense, we used two-photon fluorescence light sheet microscopy to capture the activity of individual neurons throughout the brain of larval <i>Danio rerio</i>, while displaying a visual number stimulus to the animal. We identified number-selective neurons as early as 3 days post-fertilization and found a proportional increase of neurons tuned to larger quantities after 3 days. We used machine learning to predict the stimulus from the neuronal activity and observed that the prediction accuracy improves with age. We further tested ethanol's effect on number sense and found a decrease in number-selective neurons in the forebrain, suggbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2024.08.30.610552https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11406567biostudies-literatureNeural Basis of Number Sense in Larval Zebrafish.PMC11406567R34 NS126800UF1 NS122082Brennan CHZanon MTruong TVJones MMessina AKeomanee-Dizon KNadtochiy ATorres Perez JVVallortigara GLuu PPetrazzini MEMMoreno NFraser SEfalseNeural Basis of Number Sense in Larval Zebrafish.Number sense, the ability to discriminate the quantity of objects, is crucial for survival. To understand how neurons work together and develop to mediate number sense, we used two-photon fluorescence light sheet microscopy to capture the activity of individual neurons throughout the brain of larval <i>Danio rerio</i>, while displaying a visual number stimulus to the animal. We identified number-selective neurons as early as 3 days post-fertilization and found a proportional increase of neurons tuned to larger quantities after 3 days. We used machine learning to predict the stimulus from the neuronal activity and observed that the prediction accuracy improves with age. We further tested ethanol's effect on number sense and found a decrease in number-selective neurons in the forebrain, sugg2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Sep2025-04-04T18:53:35.567Z2025-04-04T18:53:35.567ZS-EPMC114065673929034910.1101/2024.08.30.610552