Network topology of symbolic and nonsymbolic number comparison

Autor: Benjamin N. Conrad, Eric D. Wilkey, Darren J. Yeo, Gavin R. Price
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Network Neuroscience, Vol 4, Iss 3, Pp 714-745 (2020)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2472-1751
75668599
DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00144
Popis: AbstractStudies of brain activity during number processing suggest symbolic and nonsymbolic numerical stimuli (e.g., Arabic digits and dot arrays) engage both shared and distinct neural mechanisms. However, the extent to which number format influences large-scale functional network organization is unknown. In this study, using 7 Tesla MRI, we adopted a network neuroscience approach to characterize the whole-brain functional architecture supporting symbolic and nonsymbolic number comparison in 33 adults. Results showed the degree of global modularity was similar for both formats. The symbolic format, however, elicited stronger community membership among auditory regions, whereas for nonsymbolic, stronger membership was observed within and between cingulo-opercular/salience network and basal ganglia communities. The right posterior inferior temporal gyrus, left intraparietal sulcus, and two regions in the right ventromedial occipital cortex demonstrated robust differences between formats in terms of their community membership, supporting prior findings that these areas are differentially engaged based on number format. Furthermore, a unified fronto-parietal/dorsal attention community in the nonsymbolic condition was fractionated into two components in the symbolic condition. Taken together, these results reveal a pattern of overlapping and distinct network architectures for symbolic and nonsymbolic number processing.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals