Beyond the Mental Number Line: A Neural Network Model of Number-space Interactions

It is commonly assumed that there is an interaction between the representations of number and space (e.g., Dehaene, Bossini, & Giraux, 1993; Walsh, 2003), typically ascribed to a mental number line. The exact nature of this interaction has remained elusive, however. Here we propose that spatial aspects are not inherent to number representations, but that instead spatial and numerical representations are separate. However, cultural factors establish ties between them. By extending earlier models (Gevers, Verguts, Reynvoet, Caessens, & Fias, 2006; Verguts, Fias, & Stevens, 2005) based on this hypothesis, the authors present computer simulations showing that a model incorporating this idea can account for data from a series of studies. These results suggest that number-space interactions are emergent properties resulting from the interaction between different brain areas.