<p>Not sure, but I think you'd find it interesting that there are some humans out there who do not have an intuitive sense of any number past two. For example, people who are part of hunter gatherer tribes who, for example, only need to know that they have a lot of berries, not that they have exactly 7 or exactly 65; for their lifestyle, there is no need for counting. Their numbers are "1", "2", and "more than 2", and their language lacks the capability to express any other numerical idea. </p>

<p>Presumably this has an effect on the physiology of their brain. I'm pointing this out because maybe it suggests that something as specific as the numerical digits 0-9, which are represented with different symbols even across cultures that have all 10 digits, are too specific to elicit any sort of measurable difference in brain activity while reading one compared to the other. And that's the reason no studies have been done on them. Am totally unsure of this.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-16T01:03:59.270Z
2019-09-16T01:03:59.270Z
James Ronald
<p>I need to carry out EEG experiments with stimuli being images of 5 digits between 0 and 9. In order to select these 5 digits, I wanted to know if there has been any research work that measures relative brain activity while observing numerals.</p>

<p>I have been able to find similar work for text (orthographic coding), but not for visual processing. Please let me know if you know of any such work.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<cognitive-psychology><cognitive-neuroscience><eeg>
Has there been any research on the visual uniqueness (in terms of brain activity) of numerals from 0 to 9?
Ajay Subramanian
# Has there been any research on the visual uniqueness (in terms of brain activity) of numerals from 0 to 9?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-09-15)

I need to carry out EEG experiments with stimuli being images of 5 digits between 0 and 9. In order to select these 5 digits, I wanted to know if there has been any research work that measures relative brain activity while observing numerals.

I have been able to find similar work for text (orthographic coding), but not for visual processing. Please let me know if you know of any such work.

Thanks in advance!

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, cognitive-neuroscience, eeg


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-09-16. Score: 1

Not sure, but I think you'd find it interesting that there are some humans out there who do not have an intuitive sense of any number past two. For example, people who are part of hunter gatherer tribes who, for example, only need to know that they have a lot of berries, not that they have exactly 7 or exactly 65; for their lifestyle, there is no need for counting. Their numbers are "1", "2", and "more than 2", and their language lacks the capability to express any other numerical idea.

Presumably this has an effect on the physiology of their brain. I'm pointing this out because maybe it suggests that something as specific as the numerical digits 0-9, which are represented with different symbols even across cultures that have all 10 digits, are too specific to elicit any sort of measurable difference in brain activity while reading one compared to the other. And that's the reason no studies have been done on them. Am totally unsure of this.


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