Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 2008 - Volume 31, Issue 06  

Open Peer Commentary

From magnitude to natural numbers: A developmental neurocognitive perspective

Roi Cohen Kadosha1 and Vincent Walsha1

a1 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom r.cohenkadosh@ucl.ac.uk v.walsh@ucl.ac.uk http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/Research-Groups/Visual-Cognition-Group/index.php

Abstract

In their target article, Rips et al. have presented the view that there is no necessary dependency between natural numbers and internal magnitude. However, they do not give enough weight to neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies. We provide evidence demonstrating that the acquisition of natural numbers depends on magnitude representation and that natural numbers develop from a general magnitude mechanism in the parietal lobes.

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