Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32537630›Full record

ArticleCerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)2020

Unconscious Number Discrimination in the Human Visual System.

Ché Lucero, Geoffrey Brookshire, Clara Sava-Segal, Roberto Bottini, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Edward K Vogel, Daniel Casasanto

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Ché LuceroDepartment of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Geoffrey BrookshireDepartment of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Clara Sava-SegalDepartment of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Roberto BottiniCenter for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
Susan Goldin-MeadowDepartment of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Edward K VogelDepartment of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Daniel CasasantoDepartment of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

Funding

The Distinction Between Number and Resolution in Visual Working MemoryR01MH087214 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · PI AWH, EDWARD, VOGEL, EDWARD K · 2009 to 2023
$11.0M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH087214
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

How do humans compute approximate number? According to one influential theory, approximate number representations arise in the intraparietal sulcus and are amodal, meaning that they arise independent of any sensory modality. Alternatively, approximate number may be computed initially within sensory systems. Here we tested for sensitivity to approximate number in the visual system using steady state visual evoked potentials. We recorded electroencephalography from humans while they viewed dotclouds presented at 30 Hz, which alternated in numerosity (ranging from 10 to 20 dots) at 15 Hz. At this rate, each dotcloud backward masked the previous dotcloud, disrupting top-down feedback to visual cortex and preventing conscious awareness of the dotclouds' numerosities. Spectral amplitude at 15 Hz measured over the occipital lobe (Oz) correlated positively with the numerical ratio of the stimuli, even when nonnumerical stimulus attributes were controlled, indicating that subjects' visual systems were differentiating dotclouds on the basis of their numerical ratios. Crucially, subjects were unable to discriminate the numerosities of the dotclouds consciously, indicating the backward masking of the stimuli disrupted reentrant feedback to visual cortex. Approximate number appears to be computed within the visual system, independently of higher-order areas, such as the intraparietal sulcus.

Indexed as

Mathematical ConceptsAdultConsciousnessElectroencephalographyEvoked Potentials, VisualFemaleHumansMalePhotic StimulationVisual CortexVisual Perceptionapproximate number systemconsciousnessoccipitalSSVEPvision

Identifiers

PMID32537630
PMCPMC8248837

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.