Neurobiology of abstract magnitude rules

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Nieder
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2012 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 231678554

The ability to process abstract quantity information to achieve internally maintained goals is central to intelli-gent, goal-directed behaviour. Numerical cognition, in particular, is based on highly abstract principles, or rules, of how to structure, process and evaluate quantitative information, and thus inherently requires cogni-tive control functioning. If, where, and how magnitude rules can be represented by single neurons, however, remained elusive. In this project, we will investigate the neural basis of task shifting based on magnitude information by recording the activity of individual frontal and parietal lobe neurons in rhesus monkeys trained to flexibly apply quantitative rules. Because the neuronal circuits in the monkey association cortex could readily have been adopted in the course of primate evolution, these findings may also help to elucidate ab-stract rule processing in formalized, symbolic systems in humans.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants