Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 7 May 1999:
Vol. 284. no. 5416, pp. 970 - 974
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5416.970
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Sources of Mathematical Thinking: Behavioral and Brain-Imaging Evidence

S. Dehaene, 1* E. Spelke, 2 P. Pinel, 1 R. Stanescu, 1 S. Tsivkin 2

Does the human capacity for mathematical intuition depend on linguistic competence or on visuo-spatial representations? A series of behavioral and brain-imaging experiments provides evidence for both sources. Exact arithmetic is acquired in a language-specific format, transfers poorly to a different language or to novel facts, and recruits networks involved in word-association processes. In contrast, approximate arithmetic shows language independence, relies on a sense of numerical magnitudes, and recruits bilateral areas of the parietal lobes involved in visuo-spatial processing. Mathematical intuition may emerge from the interplay of these brain systems.

1 Unité INSERM 334, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, CEA/DSV, 91401 Orsay Cedex, France.
2 Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dehaene{at}shfj.cea.fr

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Functional Heterogeneity of Inferior Parietal Cortex during Mathematical Cognition Assessed with Cytoarchitectonic Probability Maps.
S. S. Wu, T. T. Chang, A. Majid, S. Caspers, S. B. Eickhoff, and V. Menon (2009)
Cereb Cortex 19, 2930-2945
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neural correlates of arithmetic calculation strategies.
M. Rosenberg-Lee, M. C. Lovett, and J. R. Anderson (2009)
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 9, 270-285
   Abstract »    PDF »
Recruitment of an Area Involved in Eye Movements During Mental Arithmetic.
A. Knops, B. Thirion, E. M. Hubbard, V. Michel, and S. Dehaene (2009)
Science 324, 1583-1585
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Contributions of Primate Prefrontal and Posterior Parietal Cortices to Length and Numerosity Representation.
O. Tudusciuc and A. Nieder (2009)
J Neurophysiol 101, 2984-2994
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamic representations underlying symbolic and nonsymbolic calculation: Evidence from the operational momentum effect.
A. Knops, A. Viarouge, and S. Dehaene (2009)
Atten Percept Psychophys 71, 803-821
   Abstract »    PDF »
Integers do not automatically activate their quantity representation.
D. J. Cohen (2009)
Psychon Bull Rev 16, 332-336
   Abstract »    PDF »
Alterations in Midline Cortical Thickness and Gyrification Patterns Mapped in Children with 22q11.2 Deletions.
C. E. Bearden, T. G.M. van Erp, R. A. Dutton, A. D. Lee, T. J. Simon, T. D. Cannon, B. S. Emanuel, D. McDonald-McGinn, E. H. Zackai, and P. M. Thompson (2009)
Cereb Cortex 19, 115-126
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Do you make a difference? Social context in a betting task.
N. Eiji Nawa, E. E. Nelson, D. S. Pine, and M. Ernst (2008)
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 3, 367-376
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mental Arithmetic in Children With Mathematics Learning Disabilities: The Adaptive Use of Approximate Calculation in an Addition Verification Task.
L. Rousselle and M.-P. Noel (2008)
J Learn Disabil 41, 498-513
   Abstract »    PDF »
Numerical thought with and without words: Evidence from indigenous Australian children.
B. Butterworth, R. Reeve, F. Reynolds, and D. Lloyd (2008)
PNAS 105, 13179-13184
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Neuroscience of Stigma and Stereotype Threat.
B. Derks, M. Inzlicht, and S. Kang (2008)
Group Processes Intergroup Relations 11, 163-181
   Abstract »    PDF »
Role of Prefrontal and Parietal Cortices in Associative Learning.
J. R. Anderson, D. Byrne, J. M. Fincham, and P. Gunn (2008)
Cereb Cortex 18, 904-914
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Language processing within the striatum: evidence from a PET correlation study in Huntington's disease.
M. Teichmann, V. Gaura, J.-F. Demonet, F. Supiot, M. Delliaux, C. Verny, P. Renou, P. Remy, and A.-C. Bachoud-Levi (2008)
Brain 131, 1046-1056
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
When Brightness Counts: The Neuronal Correlate of Numerical-Luminance Interference.
R. C. Kadosh, K. C. Kadosh, and A. Henik (2008)
Cereb Cortex 18, 337-343
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Small Circuits for Large Tasks: High-Speed Decision-Making in Archerfish.
T. Schlegel and S. Schuster (2008)
Science 319, 104-106
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
What Holds Back the Second Generation? The Intergenerational Transmission of Language Human Capital Among Immigrants..
H. Bleakley and A. Chin (2008)
J. Human Resources 43, 267-298
   Abstract »    PDF »
Increased Gray Matter Density in the Parietal Cortex of Mathematicians: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.
K. Aydin, A. Ucar, K.K. Oguz, O.O. Okur, A. Agayev, Z. Unal, S. Yilmaz, and C. Ozturk (2007)
AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol. 28, 1859-1864
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Role of the Superior Intraparietal Sulcus in Supporting Visual Short-Term Memory for Multifeature Objects.
Y. Xu (2007)
J. Neurosci. 27, 11676-11686
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cognitive Characteristics of Children With Mathematics Learning Disability (MLD) Vary as a Function of the Cutoff Criterion Used to Define MLD.
M. M. Murphy, M. M. M. Mazzocco, L. B. Hanich, and M. C. Early (2007)
J Learn Disabil 40, 458-478
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Hands Have It: Number Representations in Adult Deaf Signers.
M. Korvorst, H.-C. Nuerk, and K. Willmes (2007)
J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ. 12, 362-372
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Time-Frequency Intracranial Source Localization of Feedback-Related EEG Activity in Hypothesis Testing.
D. Papo, A. Douiri, F. Bouchet, J.-C. Bourzeix, J.-P. Caverni, and P.-M. Baudonniere (2007)
Cereb Cortex 17, 1314-1322
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Effects of childhood sexual abuse on neuropsychological and cognitive function in college women..
C. P. Navalta, A. Polcari, D. M. Webster, A. Boghossian, and M. H. Teicher (2006)
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 18, 45-53
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Temporal and spatial enumeration processes in the primate parietal cortex..
A. Nieder, I. Diester, and O. Tudusciuc (2006)
Science 313, 1431-1435
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Arithmetic processing in the brain shaped by cultures.
Y. Tang, W. Zhang, K. Chen, S. Feng, Y. Ji, J. Shen, E. M. Reiman, and Y. Liu (2006)
PNAS 103, 10775-10780
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neurofunctional Differences Associated with Arithmetic Processing in Turner Syndrome.
S. R. Kesler, V. Menon, and A. L. Reiss (2006)
Cereb Cortex 16, 849-856
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neural Correlates for Numerical Processing in the Manual Mode.
N. Masataka, T. Ohnishi, E. Imabayashi, M. Hirakata, and H. Matsuda (2006)
J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ. 11, 144-152
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Discrete and analogue quantity processing in the parietal lobe: A functional MRI study.
F. Castelli, D. E. Glaser, and B. Butterworth (2006)
PNAS 103, 4693-4698
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
+Gz Acceleration Loss of Consciousness: Time Course of Performance Deficits With Repeated Experience.
L. D. Tripp, J. S. Warm, G. Matthews, P. Chiu, P. Werchan, and J. E Deaton (2006)
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 48, 109-120
   Abstract »    PDF »
Brain, Sex and Ideology.
C. Vidal (2005)
Diogenes 52, 127-133
   Abstract »    PDF »
Developmental Changes in Mental Arithmetic: Evidence for Increased Functional Specialization in the Left Inferior Parietal Cortex.
S.M. Rivera, A.L. Reiss, M.A. Eckert, and V. Menon (2005)
Cereb Cortex 15, 1779-1790
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Making Sense of Number Sense: Implications for Children With Mathematical Disabilities.
D. B. Berch (2005)
J Learn Disabil 38, 333-339
   Abstract »    PDF »
Cortical triggers in generalized reflex seizures and epilepsies.
E. Ferlazzo, B. G. Zifkin, E. Andermann, and F. Andermann (2005)
Brain 128, 700-710
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From The Cover: Agrammatic but numerate.
R. A. Varley, N. J. C. Klessinger, C. A. J. Romanowski, and M. Siegal (2005)
PNAS 102, 3519-3524
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Renewal of the Neurophysiology of Language: Functional Neuroimaging.
J.-F. Demonet, G. Thierry, and D. Cardebat (2005)
Physiol Rev 85, 49-95
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Exact and Approximate Arithmetic in an Amazonian Indigene Group.
P. Pica, C. Lemer, V. Izard, and S. Dehaene (2004)
Science 306, 499-503
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Numerical Cognition Without Words: Evidence from Amazonia.
P. Gordon (2004)
Science 306, 496-499
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Developmental Dyscalculia.
R. S. Shalev (2004)
J Child Neurol 19, 765-771
   Abstract »    PDF »
Brain Anatomy in Turner Syndrome: Evidence for Impaired Social and Spatial-Numerical Networks.
N. Molko, A. Cachia, D. Riviere, J.F. Mangin, M. Bruandet, D. LeBihan, L. Cohen, and S. Dehaene (2004)
Cereb Cortex 14, 840-850
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A parieto-frontal network for visual numerical information in the monkey.
A. Nieder and E. K. Miller (2004)
PNAS 101, 7457-7462
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mathematics and Learning Disabilities.
D. C. Geary (2004)
J Learn Disabil 37, 4-15
   Abstract »    PDF »
Predicting Math Achievement Through Neuropsychological Interpretation of WISC-III Variance Components.
J. B. Hale, C. A. Fiorello, M. Bertin, and R. Sherman (2003)
Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment 21, 358-380
   Abstract »    PDF »
Investigation of White Matter Structure in Velocardiofacial Syndrome: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study.
N. Barnea-Goraly, V. Menon, B. Krasnow, A. Ko, A. Reiss, and S. Eliez (2003)
Am J Psychiatry 160, 1863-1869
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Quantity Determination and the Distance Effect with Letters, Numbers, and Shapes: A Functional MR Imaging Study of Number Processing.
R. K. Fulbright, S. C. Manson, P. Skudlarski, C. M. Lacadie, and J. C. Gore (2003)
AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol. 24, 193-200
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mathematics Deficits in Adolescents With Bipolar I Disorder.
D. C. Lagace, S. P. Kutcher, and H. A. Robertson (2003)
Am J Psychiatry 160, 100-104
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Intraoperative mapping of the cortical areas involved in multiplication and subtraction: an electrostimulation study in a patient with a left parietal glioma.
H Duffau, D Denvil, M Lopes, F Gasparini, L Cohen, L Capelle, and R van Effenterre (2002)
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 73, 733-738
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Role of Rostral Brodmann Area 6 in Mental-operation Tasks: an Integrative Neuroimaging Approach.
T. Hanakawa, M. Honda, N. Sawamoto, T. Okada, Y. Yonekura, H. Fukuyama, and H. Shibasaki (2002)
Cereb Cortex 12, 1157-1170
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Representation of the Quantity of Visual Items in the Primate Prefrontal Cortex.
A. Nieder, D. J. Freedman, and E. K. Miller (2002)
Science 297, 1708-1711
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rapid Distributed Fronto-parieto-occipital Processing Stages During Working Memory in Humans.
E. Halgren, C. Boujon, J. Clarke, C. Wang, and P. Chauvel (2002)
Cereb Cortex 12, 710-728
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Math Learning Disability and Math LD Subtypes: Evidence from Studies of Turner Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, and Neurofibromatosis Type 1.
M. M. M. Mazzocco (2001)
J Learn Disabil 34, 520-533
   Abstract »    PDF »
New Evidence for Distinct Right and Left Brain Systems for Deductive versus Probabilistic Reasoning.
L. M. Parsons and D. Osherson (2001)
Cereb Cortex 11, 954-965
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Priming Method: Imaging Unconscious Repetition Priming Reveals an Abstract Representation of Number in the Parietal Lobes.
L. Naccache and S. Dehaene (2001)
Cereb Cortex 11, 966-974
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Calculation difficulties in children of very low birthweight: A neural correlate.
E. B. Isaacs, C. J. Edmonds, A. Lucas, and D. G. Gadian (2001)
Brain 124, 1701-1707
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dissociating Neural Correlates of Cognitive Components in Mental Calculation.
O. Gruber, P. Indefrey, H. Steinmetz, and A. Kleinschmidt (2001)
Cereb Cortex 11, 350-359
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Understanding dissociations in dyscalculia: A brain imaging study of the impact of number size on the cerebral networks for exact and approximate calculation.
R. Stanescu-Cosson, P. Pinel, P.-F. van de Moortele, D. Le Bihan, L. Cohen, and S. Dehaene (2000)
Brain 123, 2240-2255
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
An approach to probe some neural systems interaction by functional MRI at neural time scale down to milliseconds.
S. Ogawa, T.-M. Lee, R. Stepnoski, W. Chen, X.-H. Zhu, and K. Ugurbil (2000)
PNAS 97, 11026-11031
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cerebral Activation during Multiplication: A Functional MR Imaging Study of Number Processing.
R. K. Fulbright, D. L. Molfese, A. A. Stevens, P. Skudlarski, C. M. Lacadie, and J. C. Gore (2000)
AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol. 21, 1048-1054
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)