Magnitudes for Nervous Systems: Theoretical Issues and Experimental Evidence

Animals’ negotiations with the environment frequently involve quantitative assessments. However, it is largely unknown how different nervous systems can deal with information about magnitude and perform operations on it. Here we review some of the literature on this topic and discuss a few issues worthy of debate that can guide future research directions. First, we present experimental evidence suggesting that, in addition to the cortical (pallial) brain regions that are widely acknowledged to play a role in magnitude estimation, subcortical (more generally, subpallial) brain regions also play an important role. Second, we discuss interactions between different domains of magnitude and put forward a hypothesis to account for the directionality of associations between discrete and continuous magnitude. Finally, we suggest how the distinction between the concepts of number and discrete quantity should foster more attention to the role of sensory areas and circuits in assessing discrete quantities.