PUBLICATION
Quantity discrimination in newly hatched zebrafish suggests hardwired numerical abilities
- Authors
- Lucon-Xiccato, T., Gatto, E., Fontana, C.M., Bisazza, A.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-230325-34
- Date
- 2023
- Source
- Communications biology 6: 247247 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Fontana, Camila Maria, Lucon-Xiccato, Tyrone
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Brain*
- Fetus
- Humans
- Infant, Newborn
- Larva
- Neurons
- Zebrafish*
- PubMed
- 36959336 Full text @ Commun Biol
Citation
Lucon-Xiccato, T., Gatto, E., Fontana, C.M., Bisazza, A. (2023) Quantity discrimination in newly hatched zebrafish suggests hardwired numerical abilities. Communications biology. 6:247247.
Abstract
An intriguing hypothesis to explain the ubiquity of numerical abilities is that all vertebrates are born with hardwired neuronal networks for processing numbers. To date, only studies on human foetuses have clearly supported this hypothesis. Zebrafish hatch 48-72 h after fertilisation with an embryonic nervous system, providing a unique opportunity for investigating this hypothesis. Here, we demonstrated that zebrafish larvae exposed to vertical bars at birth acquired an attraction for bar stimuli and we developed a numerical discrimination task based on this preference. When tested with a series of discriminations of increasing difficulty (1vs.4, 1vs.3, 1vs.2, and 2vs.4 bars), zebrafish larvae reliably selected the greater numerosity. The preference was significant when stimuli were matched for surface area, luminance, density, and convex hull, thereby suggesting a true capacity to process numerical information. Converging results from two phylogenetically distant species suggests that numerical abilities might be a hallmark feature of vertebrates' brains.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping