MORE THAN FINGER COUNTING: SHARED RESOURCES BETWEEN FINGER TAPPING AND ARITHMETIC

Abstract

Arithmetic is a branch of mathematics upon which many other mathematical content areas are built. The study of the mechanisms underlying arithmetic is crucial for understanding cognition in other domains of mathematics, as well as higher-level cognition. Recent advances in the study of embodied cognition have yielded to a new interest in how mathematical thinking relates to our body and the sensorimotor system. Abundant behavioral, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological evidence have accumulated over the last two decades showing a relationship between number processing and sensorimotor processes. In addition, considerable evidence has been presented that suggest precursors of arithmetic skills in animals. This shows that arithmetic is not uniquely human and some of the relevant mechanisms may exist independent of language. In this dissertation a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging methods were used to explore the embodiment of arithmetic processing, with particular focus on the relation between finger movements and addition. In addition, how bodily measures (e.g. handedness, finger counting habits, finger tapping ability) interact with cognitive measures (e.g. math ability, digit span, spatial ability) was investigated. The results provide evidence for a finger-based representation of numbers, and show that bodily measures can predict elementary numerical skills.