Picture a number line, with the values running from the smallest to the largest. New research shows that the human brain uses a similar system when comparing numbers; in the study, scientists uncovered a "mental map" in which numbers have unique coordinates in the brain, which may help us place them in order of magnitude.
"Numbers are abstract concepts, but our brains have ways of organizing them that allow us to compare and reason about their values," said study co-authors Daniela Valério, a postdoctoral researcher in the INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit (UNICOG) in France, and Stanislas Dehaene, the director of UNICOG.
"What is fascinating is that the brain can bring together numbers that look very different, such as integers [whole numbers] and fractions, within a common ...
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