@article{TschentscherHaukFischeretal.2012,
  author    = {Tschentscher, Nadja and Hauk, Olaf and Fischer, Martin H. and Pulverm{\"u}ller, Friedemann},
  title     = {You can count on the motor cortex finger counting habits modulate motor cortex activation evoked by numbers},
  series = {NeuroImage : a journal of brain function},
  volume    = {59},
  journal   = {NeuroImage : a journal of brain function},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {San Diego},
  issn      = {1053-8119},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.037},
  pages     = {3139 -- 3148},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {The embodied cognition framework suggests that neural systems for perception and action are engaged during higher cognitive processes. In an event-related fMRI study, we tested this claim for the abstract domain of numerical symbol processing: is the human cortical motor system part of the representation of numbers, and is organization of numerical knowledge influenced by individual finger counting habits? Developmental studies suggest a link between numerals and finger counting habits due to the acquisition of numerical skills through finger counting in childhood. In the present study, digits 1 to 9 and the corresponding number words were presented visually to adults with different finger counting habits, i.e. left- and right-starters who reported that they usually start counting small numbers with their left and right hand, respectively. Despite the absence of overt hand movements, the hemisphere contralateral to the hand used for counting small numbers was activated when small numbers were presented. The correspondence between finger counting habits and hemispheric motor activation is consistent with an intrinsic functional link between finger counting and number processing.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{Fischer2012,
  author    = {Fischer, Martin H.},
  title     = {A hierarchical view of grounded, embodied, and situated numerical cognition},
  series = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Heidelberg},
  issn      = {1612-4782},
  doi       = {10.1007/s10339-012-0477-5},
  pages     = {S161 -- S164},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {There is much recent interest in the idea that we represent our knowledge together with the sensory and motor features that were activated during its acquisition. This paper reviews the evidence for such "embodiment" in the domain of numerical cognition, a traditional stronghold of abstract theories of knowledge representation. The focus is on spatial-numerical associations, such as the SNARC effect (small numbers are associated with left space, larger numbers with right space). Using empirical evidence from behavioral research, I first describe sensory and motor biases induced by SNARC, thus identifying numbers as embodied concepts. Next, I propose a hierarchical relationship between grounded, embodied, and situated aspects of number knowledge. This hierarchical conceptualization helps to understand the variety of SNARC-related findings and yields testable predictions about numerical cognition. I report several such tests, ranging from cross-cultural comparisons of horizontal and vertical SNARC effects (Shaki and Fischer in J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 38(3): 804-809, 2012) to motor cortical activation studies in adults with left- and right-hand counting preferences (Tschentscher et al. in NeuroImage 59: 3139-3148, 2012). It is concluded that the diagnostic features for each level of the proposed hierarchical knowledge representation, together with the spatial associations of numbers, make the domain of numerical knowledge an ideal testing ground for embodied cognition research.},
  language  = {en}
}