Counting on the mental number line to make a move: Sensorimotor ('pen') control and numerical processing
Publication year
2017Author(s)
Number of pages
12 p.
Source
Experimental Brain Research, 235, 10, (2017), pp. 3141-3152ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

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Organization
Rehabilitation
SW OZ BSI OLO
Journal title
Experimental Brain Research
Volume
vol. 235
Issue
iss. 10
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 3141
Page end
p. 3152
Subject
Learning and Plasticity; Radboudumc 3: Disorders of movement DCMN: Donders Center for Medical NeuroscienceAbstract
Mathematics is often conducted with a writing implement. But is there a relationship between numerical processing and sensorimotor 'pen' control? We asked participants to move a stylus so it crossed an unmarked line at a location specified by a symbolic number (1-9), where number colour indicated whether the line ran left-right ('normal') or vice versa ('reversed'). The task could be simplified through the use of a 'mental number line' (MNL). Many modern societies use number lines in mathematical education and the brain's representation of number appears to follow a culturally determined spatial organisation (so better task performance is associated with this culturally normal orientation - the MNL effect). Participants (counter-balanced) completed two consistent blocks of trials, 'normal' and 'reversed', followed by a mixed block where line direction varied randomly. Experiment 1 established that the MNL effect was robust, and showed that the cognitive load associated with reversing the MNL not only affected response selection but also the actual movement execution (indexed by duration) within the mixed trials. Experiment 2 showed that an individual's motor abilities predicted performance in the difficult (mixed) condition but not the easier blocks. These results suggest that numerical processing is not isolated from motor capabilities - a finding with applied consequences.
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- Academic publications [202802]
- Electronic publications [100870]
- Faculty of Medical Sciences [80020]
- Faculty of Social Sciences [27107]
- Open Access publications [69592]
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