Abstract
What is the relationship between numerical and visual space? Here we tried to shed new light on this debated issue investigating whether and how the two forms of representation are associated or dissociated when co-activated. We carried out a series of visual-numerical bisection experiments on a large group of right brain-damaged patients (N=32) with and without left neglect. We examined (a) the degree of association between the pathological rightward error in the bisection of numerical intervals and left neglect (Experiment 1); (b) if the size of the numerical interval modulates spatial errors in bisection tasks in which numerical and visual space representations are co-activated (Experiment 2). The results showed that (a) numerical bisection error and left spatial neglect are doubly dissociated and that, when both are present, they are not correlated; (b) the size of the numerical interval did not affect the spatial bisection error but influenced the numerical bisection error. These data suggest that attentional processes involved in the navigation along visual space and numerical internal representations are independent neurocognitive operations. We must emphasize that our findings should be taken with caution because they are based mainly on negative results.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.