L’impiego dell’analisi cinematica del movimento per comprendere l’associazione spazio-numerica

La linea numerica mentale descrive la rappresentazione simbolica dei numeri nella mente umana, orientata da sinistra a destra. La conoscenza su tale linea numerica mentale può essere favorita dagli studi sulle risposte motorie a un numero. Le rappresentazioni cognitive infatti non possono essere totalmente comprese senza considerare il loro impatto sulle azioni. In questo studio si indaga se una risposta motoria può essere influenzata dall’elaborazione numerica, nello specifico, l’azione considerata è quella del lancio di una pallina con l’indice destro. I partecipanti venivano fatti sedere davanti a un piccolo campo da calcio e in ciascun trial venivano visivamente esposti a stimoli di diversa numerosità (2,5,8). I partecipanti venivano istruiti a calciare una piccola palla da calcio con l’indice destro verso un piccola porta da calcio, appena lo stimolo appariva sullo schermo del monitor, posto di fronte a loro. Tuttavia, dovevano astenersi dal calciare quando appariva lo stimolo di numerosità intermedia (5), inteso come segnale no-go. L’obiettivo di questo studio è di comprendere attraverso l’analisi del movimento l’associazione spazio-numerica.The mental number line describes the symbolic representation of numbers in the human mind, oriented from left to right. Knowledge of this mental number line can be facilitated by studies on motor responses to numbers. Cognitive representations cannot be fully understood without considering their impact on actions. This study investigates whether a motor response can be influenced by numerical processing, specifically, the action considered is the throwing of a ball with the right index finger. Participants were seated in front of a small soccer field and in each trial, they were visually presented with stimuli of different numerosities (2,5,8). Participants were instructed to kick a small soccer ball with their right index finger towards a small soccer goal, as soon as the stimulus appeared on the screen in front of them. However, they had to refrain from kicking when the intermediate numerosity stimulus (5) appeared as a no-go signal. The goal of this study is to understand, through movement analysis, the space-number association

Influence of numerical magnitudes on the free choice of an object position.

The link between numerical magnitude and mechanisms of spatial orienting has been underlined in an increasing number of studies. Similarly, the relationship between numerical magnitude and grasping actions has started to be investigated. The present study focuses on the influence of numerical magnitude processing in the free choice of the position of an object. Participants were presented with a digit (1-9 without 5) and were required to decide whether it was smaller or larger than 5. Then, they had to grasp a small cube and change its position before vocally responding \u201chigher\u201d or \u201clower\u201d. Results showed that in the initial phase of the grasp movement the grip aperture was modulated by the numerical magnitude. Moreover, participants shifted the position of the cube more leftward with smaller digits compared to larger ones, and they tended to position the object closer to themselves with smaller digits compared to larger ones. These results extend previous findings indicating that the processing of magnitude is tightly related to the mechanisms of spatial orienting that subserve action execution

Influence of numerical magnitudes on the free choice of an object position.

The link between numerical magnitude and mechanisms of spatial orienting has been underlined in an increasing number of studies. Similarly, the relationship between numerical magnitude and grasping actions has started to be investigated. The present study focuses on the influence of numerical magnitude processing in the free choice of the position of an object. Participants were presented with a digit (1-9 without 5) and were required to decide whether it was smaller or larger than 5. Then, they had to grasp a small cube and change its position before vocally responding "higher" or "lower". Results showed that in the initial phase of the grasp movement, the grip aperture was modulated by the numerical magnitude. Moreover, participants shifted the position of the cube more leftward with smaller digits compared with larger ones, and they tended to position the object closer to themselves with smaller digits compared with larger ones. These results extend the previous findings indicating that the processing of magnitude is tightly related to the mechanisms of spatial orienting that subserve action execution.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe