Neural representation of „zero“ in the human brain
October 2024
University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn, Germany(1)
University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany(2)
University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany(2)
This study investigated how the number „zero“ is processed in the human brain. To this end, single-neuron recordings were conducted in patients who had electrodes implanted in their brains as part of preoperative epilepsy monitoring. The recordings were taken during a number judgment task ("parity judgment task"), where participants had to decide whether a number was even or odd. The number “zero” was presented in two formats: symbolic (Arabic numeral “0”) and nonsymbolic (empty set of dots). It was found that the brain responded differently to symbolic and nonsymbolic representations of zero. In the nonsymbolic format, there was a difference in neuronal responses to small numbers compared to zero. In contrast, the symbolic zero was processed along the number line in the same way as other small numbers.
Single-neuron representation of nonsymbolic and symbolic number zero in the human medial temporal lobe
Florian Mormann(1), Andreas Nieder(2)
Added on: 03-04-2025
[1] https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)01156-4
