Dehaene lab finds a cortical map integrating integers and fractions via 7T fMRI
burny_tech · x · 2026-10-27
A new paper from Stanislas Dehaene's lab at NeuroSpin used 7T fMRI during a number comparison task and uncovered a cortical "numerotopic map" where voxels are tuned to specific values.
Key findings:
- In educated adults, the map integrates small integers (0–5) and simple fractions (e.g. 3/2) into a single representation.
- PCA revealed two major dimensions of brain activation: fractions drive stronger activation than integers across the bilateral math-responsive network (component 1, 26.53% explained variance), while component 2 (9.70%) orders all numbers—integers and fractions alike—by magnitude, suggesting a single shared "number line."
A notable empirical advance in numerical cognition research.
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