Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding number sense in animals by confirming the existence of discrete number sense in rats, offering a crucial animal model for investigating the neural basis of numerical ability and disability in humans.
Research co-led by neuroscientists Professor Yung Wing-ho from City University of Hong Kong and Professor Ke Ya from The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine has made a groundbreaking discovery regarding number sense in animals by confirming the existence of discrete number sense in rats, offering a crucial animal model for investigating the neural basis of numerical ability and disability in humans.
Number sense refers to the capability to compare, estimate and manipulate nonsymbolic numerical quantities, rather than associated magnitudes, which are continuous dimensions inherent in a group of items, such as the area of visual objects or the duration of sound pulses. There have been challenges regarding whether number sense can be assessed in isolation from the influence of continuous magnitudes.
Professor Yung, Associate Dean of the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences and Chair Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at CityUHK, said,"Our study helps dissect the relationship between magnitude and numerosity processing. We discovered that when we blocked a specific part of the rats' brain, called the posterior parietal cortex, their ability to understand numbers was affected but not their sense of magnitude.
Professor Yung and Professor Ke are the corresponding authors. Other contributing authors include Dr Liang Tuo, Dr Peng Rongchao, Mr Rong Kanglin and Ms Li Jiaxin from CUHK.New research has revealed the extent of sensory loss among people suffering from long COVID, with around 30 percent reporting a decreased sense of smell, and a similar number finding their sense of ...
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