A Brain for Numbers

The Biology of the Number Instinct

Andreas Nieder (Professor of Animal Physiology, University of Tübingen)

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English

Massachusetts Inst of Tec
19 November 2019

Cognition & cognitive psychology; Mathematics & Sciences; Neurosciences

Series: The MIT Press

How our intuitive understanding of numbers is deeply rooted in our biology, traceable through both evolution and development.

Humans' understanding of numbers is intuitive. Infants are able to estimate and calculate even before they learn the words for numbers. How have we come to possess this talent for numbers? In A Brain for Numbers, Andreas Nieder explains how our brains process numbers. He reports that numerical competency is deeply rooted in our biological ancestry; it can be traced through both the evolution of our species and the development of our individual minds. It is not, as it has been traditionally explained, based on our ability to use language. We owe our symbolic mathematical skills to the nonsymbolic numerical abilities that we inherited from our ancestors. The principles of mathematics, Nieder tells us, are reflections of the innate dispositions wired into the brain.

Nieder explores how the workings of the brain give rise to numerical competence, tracing flair for numbers to dedicated ""number neurons"" in the brain. Drawing on a range of methods including brain imaging techniques, behavioral experiments, and twin studies, he outlines a new, integrated understanding of the talent for numbers. Along the way, he compares the numerical capabilities of humans and animals, and discusses the benefits animals reap from such a capability. He shows how the neurobiological roots of the brain's nonverbal quantification capacity are the evolutionary foundation of more elaborate numerical skills. He discusses how number signs and symbols are represented in the brain; calculation capability and the ""neuromythology"" of mathematical genius; the ""start-up tools"" for counting and developmental of dyscalculia (a number disorder analogous to the reading disorder dyslexia); and how the brain processes the abstract concept of zero.

By: Andreas Nieder (Professor of Animal Physiology University of Tübingen)
Imprint: Massachusetts Inst of Tec
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 32mm
ISBN: 9780262042789
ISBN 10: 0262042789
Series: The MIT Press
Pages: 392
Publication Date: 19 November 2019
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Andreas Nieder is Professor of Animal Physiology and Director of the Institute of Neurobiology at the University of Tubingen.