BACKGROUND: It is widely agreed that numbers automatically activate a magnitude representation. Nevertheless, so far no systematic evaluation of the neuro-cognitive correlates has been provided for the case of auditorily presented numbers. METHODS: To address this question, we presented spoken number words in three different tasks (passive listening, magnitude comparison, parity judgement) as well as spoken pseudowords in an fMRI study. RESULTS: We found IPS activation typically associated with magnitude processing in all tasks with numerical stimuli only. Interestingly, directly contrasting the two semantic tasks magnitude comparison (magnitude-relevant) and parity judgement (magnitude-irrelevant) revealed a left lateralized predominance within the IPS for the processing of parity information as compared to a right lateralization for number magnitude for auditorily presented number words. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our results suggest a highly automatic activation of number magnitude for spoken number words similar to previous observations for visually presented numbers, but also indicate that the issue of hemispheric asymmetries deserves specific consideration.
BACKGROUND: It is widely agreed that numbers automatically activate a magnitude representation. Nevertheless, so far no systematic evaluation of the neuro-cognitive correlates has been provided for the case of auditorily presented numbers. METHODS: To address this question, we presented spoken number words in three different tasks (passive listening, magnitude comparison, parity judgement) as well as spoken pseudowords in an fMRI study. RESULTS: We found IPS activation typically associated with magnitude processing in all tasks with numerical stimuli only. Interestingly, directly contrasting the two semantic tasks magnitude comparison (magnitude-relevant) and parity judgement (magnitude-irrelevant) revealed a left lateralized predominance within the IPS for the processing of parity information as compared to a right lateralization for number magnitude for auditorily presented number words. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our results suggest a highly automatic activation of number magnitude for spoken number words similar to previous observations for visually presented numbers, but also indicate that the issue of hemispheric asymmetries deserves specific consideration.
Authors: Kevin N Ochsner; Rebecca D Ray; Jeffrey C Cooper; Elaine R Robertson; Sita Chopra; John D E Gabrieli; James J Gross Journal: Neuroimage Date: 2004-10 Impact factor: 6.556
Authors: Elise Klein; Anne Mann; Stefan Huber; Johannes Bloechle; Klaus Willmes; Ahmed A Karim; Hans-Christoph Nuerk; Korbinian Moeller Journal: PLoS One Date: 2013-08-08 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Julia Mock; Stefan Huber; Johannes Bloechle; Julia F Dietrich; Julia Bahnmueller; Johannes Rennig; Elise Klein; Korbinian Moeller Journal: Behav Brain Funct Date: 2018-05-10 Impact factor: 3.759