2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Evolutionary origin of numerical cognition
Project/Area Number |
20K03485
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Section | 一般 |
Review Section |
Basic Section 10040:Experimental psychology-related
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Research Institution | Sagami Women's University |
Principal Investigator |
Goto Kazuhiro 相模女子大学, 人間社会学部, 教授 (20546725)
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Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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Keywords | げっ歯類 / マウス / 相対的数量弁別 / メンタルナンバーライン |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In the present study, we conducted a series of experiments to investigate two aspects of numerical cognition in mice. First, we examined mental number lines that map the quantities to spatial arrangements (e.g., small quantities to the left and large quantities to the right). Although each subject tended to map the size of the quantity to the left or right with some consistency, there was no agreement across subjects. Second, we examined ensemble perception. In ensemble perception, multiple objects are perceived simultaneously and evaluated using summary statistics such as "average" as a cue. Although mice were able to discriminate stimuli based on summary statistics, all possible explanations other than summary statistics remain to be ruled out.
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Free Research Field |
比較認知科学
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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
メンタルナンバーラインやアンサンブル知覚は,動物種を問わず報告例が極めて少ない。げっ歯類は汎用的な実験動物でありながら,このテーマに関して視覚刺激を用いた研究がなかったため,種間比較という観点でも得られる知見が重要である。また,汎用的な実験動物であるがゆえに,方法論的問題について考察するうえでも重要である。それらの重要性に加え,遺伝子組換え,光遺伝子操作などの神経科学の様々な機能計測ツールを用いた研究展開が可能なマウスを対象に研究を進めることで,将来的には神経基盤の研究まで含めた展開を視野に入れることが期待できる。
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