Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception

Humans can quickly approximate how many objects are in a visual image, but no clear consensus has been achieved on the cognitive resources underlying this ability. Previous work has lent support to the notion that mechanisms which explicitly represent the locations of multiple objects in the visual...

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Autores principales:	Elisa Castaldi, Manuela Piazza, Evelyn Eger
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	numerosity perception visuo-spatial working memory approximate number system saliency map developmental dyscalculia arithmetic Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cc603acdf8df4ca787806c5d1c02df02
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cc603acdf8df4ca787806c5d1c02df022021-11-15T10:48:18ZResources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception1662-516110.3389/fnhum.2021.751098https://doaj.org/article/cc603acdf8df4ca787806c5d1c02df022021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2021.751098/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1662-5161Humans can quickly approximate how many objects are in a visual image, but no clear consensus has been achieved on the cognitive resources underlying this ability. Previous work has lent support to the notion that mechanisms which explicitly represent the locations of multiple objects in the visual scene within a mental map are critical for both visuo-spatial working memory and enumeration (at least for relatively small numbers of items). Regarding the cognitive underpinnings of large numerosity perception, an issue currently subject to much controversy is why numerosity estimates are often non-veridical (i.e., susceptible to biases from non-numerical quantities). Such biases have been found to be particularly pronounced in individuals with developmental dyscalculia (DD), a learning disability affecting the acquisition of arithmetic skills. Motivated by findings showing that DD individuals are also often impaired in visuo-spatial working memory, we hypothesized that resources supporting this type of working memory, which allow for the simultaneous identification of multiple objects, might also be critical for precise and unbiased perception of larger numerosities. We therefore tested whether loading working memory of healthy adult participants during discrimination of large numerosities would lead to increased interference from non-numerical quantities. Participants performed a numerosity discrimination task on multi-item arrays in which numerical and non-numerical stimulus dimensions varied congruently or incongruently relative to each other, either in isolation or in the context of a concurrent visuo-spatial or verbal working memory task. During performance of the visuo-spatial, but not verbal, working memory task, precision in numerosity discrimination decreased, participants’ choices became strongly biased by item size, and the strength of this bias correlated with measures of arithmetical skills. Moreover, the interference between numerosity and working memory tasks was bidirectional, with number discrimination impacting visuo-spatial (but not verbal) performance. Overall, these results suggest that representing visual numerosity in a way that is unbiased by non-numerical quantities relies on processes which explicitly segregate/identify the locations of multiple objects that are shared with visuo-spatial (but not verbal) working memory. This shared resource may potentially be impaired in DD, explaining the observed co-occurrence of working memory and numerosity discrimination deficits in this clinical population.Elisa CastaldiElisa CastaldiManuela PiazzaEvelyn EgerFrontiers Media S.A.articlenumerosity perceptionvisuo-spatial working memoryapproximate number systemsaliency mapdevelopmental dyscalculiaarithmeticNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. NeuropsychiatryRC321-571ENFrontiers in Human Neuroscience, Vol 15 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	numerosity perception visuo-spatial working memory approximate number system saliency map developmental dyscalculia arithmetic Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571
spellingShingle	numerosity perception visuo-spatial working memory approximate number system saliency map developmental dyscalculia arithmetic Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry RC321-571 Elisa Castaldi Elisa Castaldi Manuela Piazza Evelyn Eger Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception
description	Humans can quickly approximate how many objects are in a visual image, but no clear consensus has been achieved on the cognitive resources underlying this ability. Previous work has lent support to the notion that mechanisms which explicitly represent the locations of multiple objects in the visual scene within a mental map are critical for both visuo-spatial working memory and enumeration (at least for relatively small numbers of items). Regarding the cognitive underpinnings of large numerosity perception, an issue currently subject to much controversy is why numerosity estimates are often non-veridical (i.e., susceptible to biases from non-numerical quantities). Such biases have been found to be particularly pronounced in individuals with developmental dyscalculia (DD), a learning disability affecting the acquisition of arithmetic skills. Motivated by findings showing that DD individuals are also often impaired in visuo-spatial working memory, we hypothesized that resources supporting this type of working memory, which allow for the simultaneous identification of multiple objects, might also be critical for precise and unbiased perception of larger numerosities. We therefore tested whether loading working memory of healthy adult participants during discrimination of large numerosities would lead to increased interference from non-numerical quantities. Participants performed a numerosity discrimination task on multi-item arrays in which numerical and non-numerical stimulus dimensions varied congruently or incongruently relative to each other, either in isolation or in the context of a concurrent visuo-spatial or verbal working memory task. During performance of the visuo-spatial, but not verbal, working memory task, precision in numerosity discrimination decreased, participants’ choices became strongly biased by item size, and the strength of this bias correlated with measures of arithmetical skills. Moreover, the interference between numerosity and working memory tasks was bidirectional, with number discrimination impacting visuo-spatial (but not verbal) performance. Overall, these results suggest that representing visual numerosity in a way that is unbiased by non-numerical quantities relies on processes which explicitly segregate/identify the locations of multiple objects that are shared with visuo-spatial (but not verbal) working memory. This shared resource may potentially be impaired in DD, explaining the observed co-occurrence of working memory and numerosity discrimination deficits in this clinical population.
format	article
author	Elisa Castaldi Elisa Castaldi Manuela Piazza Evelyn Eger
author_facet	Elisa Castaldi Elisa Castaldi Manuela Piazza Evelyn Eger
author_sort	Elisa Castaldi
title	Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception
title_short	Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception
title_full	Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception
title_fullStr	Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception
title_full_unstemmed	Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception
title_sort	resources underlying visuo-spatial working memory enable veridical large numerosity perception
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cc603acdf8df4ca787806c5d1c02df02
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Resources Underlying Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Enable Veridical Large Numerosity Perception

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