Number-form Synesthesia: A New Approach of Spatial Representation of Numbers

ZHANG Zhe; YOU Xu-Qun

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2013, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (1) : 67-71.

Number-form Synesthesia: A New Approach of Spatial Representation of Numbers

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Abstract

Spatial representation of numbers is an important way for human beings to represent numbers. There is a renowned phenomenon named mental number line – small numbers are represented on the left side of the mental number line and large numbers are represented on the right side of the line. Similarly number-form synesthesia is a remarkable phenomenon in which numbers could be perceived consciously and automatically as exist in spatial-defined locations. There are intriguing differences and similarities both on the cognitive processes and on the mechanism of brain. Number-form synesthesia is a kind of explicit, involuntary number-spatial connection which automatically activated by number. While mental number line is implicit, flexible, number-spatial connection which depends on spatial demands of tasks. On the aspect of brain mechanism, synaesthetes were thought to be genetically predisposed to develop such spatial-number association through the random profusion of cortical pathways between brain areas responsible for numerical concepts and those that process spatial representations. However, we assert that these differences are concealed in different levels of awareness (and not in qualitatively different mechanisms). And the study of number-form synesthesia already supplied plenty of substantial data to solve the questions in the domain of spatial representation of numbers, such as the origin of spatial representation of numbers and the representation of double-digit numbers. The study of number-form synesthetes is bound to supply substantial behavior and brain mechanism data to solve the problems existing in the domain of spatial representation of numbers and contribute to reinforce our understanding of human spatial representation of numbers, and it is also able to provide new inspirations to further develop this field of study, which makes it a compelling new approach of this field of study.

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spatial representation of number / number-form synesthesia / mental number line / cognitive process / neural mechanism

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Number-form Synesthesia: A New Approach of Spatial Representation of Numbers[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2013, 36(1): 67-71

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