Head turns bias the brain's internal random generator

by: Tobias Loetscher, Urs Schwarz, Michele Schubiger, Peter Brugger

Current Biology, Vol. 18, No. 2. (22 January 2008), pp. R60-R62.

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Summary Numerical and spatial cognition rely on common functional circuits in the parietal lobes of the brain [1]. While previous work has established that the mere perception of numbers can bias a subject's attention in space [2], the method of random digit generation has only recently been introduced to a rapidly growing literature exploring asymmetries in number space [3]. Here we show that human subjects' attempts to generate numbers `at random' are systematically influenced by lateral head turns, which are known to reallocate spatial attention in the outside world. Specifically, while facing left, subjects produced relatively small numbers, whereas while facing right they tended to produce larger numbers. These results support current concepts of parietal cortex as mediating the interplay between spatial attention and abstract thought [4].

@article{citeulike:2307582, abstract = {Summary Numerical and spatial cognition rely on common functional circuits in the parietal lobes of the brain [1]. While previous work has established that the mere perception of numbers can bias a subject's attention in space [2], the method of random digit generation has only recently been introduced to a rapidly growing literature exploring asymmetries in number space [3]. Here we show that human subjects' attempts to generate numbers `at random' are systematically influenced by lateral head turns, which are known to reallocate spatial attention in the outside world. Specifically, while facing left, subjects produced relatively small numbers, whereas while facing right they tended to produce larger numbers. These results support current concepts of parietal cortex as mediating the interplay between spatial attention and abstract thought [4].}, author = {Loetscher, Tobias and Schwarz, Urs and Schubiger, Michele and Brugger, Peter }, citeulike-article-id = {2307582}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2007.11.015}, journal = {Current Biology}, keywords = {numbers, random, spontaneous}, month = {January}, number = {2}, pages = {R60--R62}, posted-at = {2008-01-30 14:48:18}, priority = {3}, title = {Head turns bias the brain's internal random generator}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.11.015}, volume = {18}, year = {2008} }

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TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2307582 TI - Head turns bias the brain's internal random generator JF - Current Biology VL - 18 IS - 2 SP - R60 EP - R62 N2 - Summary Numerical and spatial cognition rely on common functional circuits in the parietal lobes of the brain [1]. While previous work has established that the mere perception of numbers can bias a subject's attention in space [2], the method of random digit generation has only recently been introduced to a rapidly growing literature exploring asymmetries in number space [3]. Here we show that human subjects' attempts to generate numbers `at random' are systematically influenced by lateral head turns, which are known to reallocate spatial attention in the outside world. Specifically, while facing left, subjects produced relatively small numbers, whereas while facing right they tended to produce larger numbers. These results support current concepts of parietal cortex as mediating the interplay between spatial attention and abstract thought [4]. KW - numbers KW - random KW - spontaneous AU - Loetscher, Tobias AU - Schwarz, Urs AU - Schubiger, Michele AU - Brugger, Peter PY - 2008/01/22/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.11.015 ER -

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