Number-space associations in the brain

Project Information

SPANUMBRA

Grant agreement ID: 833504

DOI

10.3030/833504

Project closed

EC signature date 20 June 2019

Start date 1 November 2019

End date 30 April 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 2 628 333,00

EU contribution

€ 2 628 333,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO
Italy

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (48)

Young domestic chicks spontaneously represent the absence of objects

Author(s): Eszter Szabó, Cinzia Chiandetti, Ernő Téglás, Elisabetta Versace, Gergely Csibra, Ágnes Melinda Kovács, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: eLife, 2022, ISSN 2050-084X
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications
DOI: 10.7554/elife.67208.sa0

Evolutionary models of lateralization: Steps towardsstigmergy?

Author(s): Lucio Tonello; Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2023, ISSN 1662-5153
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1121335

Response to change in the number of visual stimuli in zebrafish:A behavioural and molecular study

Author(s): Andrea Messina, Davide Potrich, Ilaria Schiona, Valeria Anna Sovrano, Scott E. Fraser, Caroline H. Brennan, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Scientific Reports, Issue 10/1, 2020, ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62608-5

Swimming through asymmetry: zebrafish as a model for brain and behavior lateralization

Author(s): Alessandra Gobbo, Andrea Messina, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Issue 19, 2025, ISSN 1662-5153
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1527572

Brain and Behavioral Asymmetry: A Lesson From Fish

Author(s): Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini, Valeria Anna Sovrano, Giorgio Vallortigara, Andrea Messina
Published in: Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, Issue 14, 2020, ISSN 1662-5129
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2020.00011

Response of male and female domestic chicks to change in the number (quantity) of imprinting objects

Author(s): Bastien S. Lemaire, Rosa Rugani, Lucia Regolin, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Learning & Behavior, Issue 49/1, 2021, Page(s) 54-66, ISSN 1543-4494
Publisher: Psychonomic Society Inc.
DOI: 10.3758/s13420-020-00446-1

baz1b loss-of-function in zebrafish produces phenotypic alterations consistent with the domestication syndrome

Author(s): Jose V. Torres-Pérez, Sofia Anagianni, Aleksandra M. Mech, William Havelange, Judit García-González, Scott E. Fraser, Giorgio Vallortigara, Caroline H. Brennan
Published in: iScience, Issue 26, 2024, Page(s) 105704, ISSN 2589-0042
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105704

Neural coding of numerousness

Author(s): Kobylkov, Dmitry; Zanon, Mirko; Perrino, Matilde; Vallortigara, Giorgio
Published in: Crossref, Issue 1, 2023, ISSN 1872-8324
Publisher: Elsevier B.V. All
DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.104999

Numerosities and Other Magnitudes in the Brains: A Comparative View

Author(s): Elena Lorenzi, Matilde Perrino, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Frontiers in Psychology, Issue 12, 2021, ISSN 1664-1078
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.641994

Transfer from Number to Size Reveals Abstract Coding of Magnitude in Honeybees

Author(s): Maria Bortot, Gionata Stancher, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: iScience, Issue 23/5, 2020, Page(s) 101122, ISSN 2589-0042
Publisher: Elservier
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101122

Innate face-selectivity in the brain of young domestic chicks

Author(s): Dmitry Kobylkov, Orsola Rosa-Salva, Mirko Zanon, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Issue 121, 2024, ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2410404121

Visual Field Analysis: A reliable method to score left and right eye use using automated tracking.

Author(s): Mathilde Josserand, Orsola Rosa-Salva, Elisabetta Versace, Bastien S. Lemaire
Published in: Behavior Research Methods, 2021, ISSN 1554-3528
Publisher: Springer
DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01702-6

Light-incubation effects on lateralisation of single unit responses in the visual Wulst of domestic chicks

Author(s): Giacomo Costalunga, Dmitry Kobylkov, Orsola Rosa-Salva, Giorgio Vallortigara, Uwe Mayer
Published in: Brain Structure and Function, 2021, ISSN 1863-2653
Publisher: Springer Verlag
DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02259-y

Light-induced asymmetries in embryonic retinal gene expression are mediated by the vascular system and extracellular matrix

Author(s): Elisabetta Versace, Paola Sgadò, Julia George, Jasmine L. Loveland, Joseph Ward, Peter Thorpe, Lars Juhl Jensen, Karen A. Spencer, Silvia Paracchini, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Scientific Reports, Issue vol 12, n1, 2022, ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14963-8

Face detection mechanisms: Nature vs. nurture

Author(s): Dmitry Kobylkov; Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Frontiers Neuroscience, 2024, ISSN 1662-453X
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1404174

Characterizing ontogeny of quantity discrimination in zebrafish

Author(s): Eva Sheardown, Jose Vicente Torres-Perez, Sofia Anagianni, Scott E Fraser, Giorgio Vallortigara, Brian Butterworth, Maria Elena Miletto-Petrazzini, Caroline H Brennan
Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Issue Volume 289. Issue 1968, 2022, ISSN 0962-8452
Publisher: Royal Society of London
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2544

In vivo assessment of the influence of general anesthetics on transmembrane water cycling in the brain

Author(s): Eleonora Cavallari, Elena Lorenzi, Enza Di Gregorio, Giuseppe Ferrauto, Silvio Aime, Giorgio Vallortigara, Angelo Bifone
Published in: Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, Issue 45, 2025, Page(s) 977-988, ISSN 0271-678X
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ltd.
DOI: 10.1177/0271678x241309783

Magnitudes for Nervous Systems: Theoretical Issues and Experimental Evidence

Author(s): Giorgio Vallortigara, Elena Lorenzi, Andrea Messina, Matilde Perrino
Published in: Current Directions in Psychological Sciences, 2022, ISSN 2158-2440
Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc.
DOI: 10.1177/09637214221102146

The Sense of Number in Fish, with Particular Reference to ItsNeurobiological Bases

Author(s): Andrea Messina, Davide Potrich, Ilaria Schiona, Valeria Anna Sovrano, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI, 2021, ISSN 2076-2615
Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
DOI: 10.3390/ani11113072

Hierarchical processing of feature, egocentric and relational information for spatial orientation in domestic chicks

Author(s): Morandi-Raikova A.; Rosa-Salva O.; Simdianova A.; Vallortigara G.; Mayer U.
Published in: Journal of Experimental Biology, 2024, ISSN 1477-9145
Publisher: The Company of Biologists.
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246447

When sounds come alive: animacy in the auditory sense

Author(s): Stefano Gonan, Giorgio Vallortigara, Cinzia Chiandetti
Published in: Frontiers in Psychology, Issue 15, 2024, ISSN 1664-1078
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1498702

Asymmetric distribution of pallial‐expressed genes in zebrafish ( Danio rerio )

Author(s): Andrea Messina, Alessandra Boiti, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: European Journal of Neuroscience, Issue 53/2, 2021, Page(s) 362-375, ISSN 0953-816X
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Inc.
DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14914

Steps towards a computational ethology: an automatized, interactive setup to investigate filial imprinting and biological predispositions

Author(s): Mirko Zanon, Bastien S. Lemaire, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Biological Cybernetics, Issue 115, 2021, Page(s) 575-584, ISSN 0340-1200
Publisher: Springer Verlag
DOI: 10.1007/s00422-021-00886-6

Innate responses to numerousness reveal neural activation in different brain regions in newly-hatched visually naïve chicks

Author(s): Elena Lorenzi, Matilde Perrino, Andrea Messina, Mirko Zanon, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Heliyon, Issue 10, 2025, Page(s) e34162, ISSN 2405-8440
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34162

Numerical magnitude, rather than individual bias, explains spatial numerical association in newborn chicks

Author(s): Rosa Rugani, Giorgio Vallortigara, Konstantinos Priftis, Lucia Regolin
Published in: eLife, Issue 9, 2020, ISSN 2050-084X
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications
DOI: 10.7554/elife.54662

Neurons in the Dorso-Central Division of Zebrafish Pallium Respond to Change in Visual Numerosity

Author(s): Andrea Messina, Davide Potrich, Ilaria Schiona, Valeria Anna Sovrano, Scott E. Fraser, Caroline H. Brennan, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Cerebral Cortex, 2021, ISSN 1047-3211
Publisher: Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab218

Responses in the left and right entopallium are differently affected by light stimulation in embryo

Author(s): Costalunga, Giacomo; Kobylkov, Dmitry; Rosa-Salva, Orsola; Morandi-Raikova, Anastasia; Vallortigara, Giorgio; Mayer, Uwe
Published in: iScience, Vol 27, Iss 3, Pp 109268- (2024), Issue 3, 2024, ISSN 2589-0042
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109268

Is there an innate sense of number in the brain?

Author(s): Elena Lorenzi, Dmitry Kobylkov, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Cerebral Cortex, Issue 35, 2025, ISSN 1047-3211
Publisher: Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf004

Proto-arithmetic abilities in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Author(s): Davide Potrich, Lorenza Montel, Gionata Stancher, Greta Baratti, Giorgio Vallortigara, Valeria Anna Sovrano
Published in: Heliyon, Issue 10, 2025, Page(s) e40585, ISSN 2405-8440
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40585

Micromolar Valproic Acid Doses Preserve Survival and Induce Molecular Alterations in Neurodevelopmental Genes in Two Strains of Zebrafish Larvae

Author(s): Andrea Messina, Alessandra Boiti, Valeria Anna Sovrano, Paola Sgadò
Published in: Biomolecules, Issue 10/10, 2020, Page(s) 1364, ISSN 2218-273X
Publisher: MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/biom10101364

Statistical learning in domestic chicks is modulated by strain and sex

Author(s): Chiara Santolin, Orsola Rosa-Salva, Bastien S. Lemaire, Lucia Regolin, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Scientific Reports, Issue 10/1, 2020, ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72090-8

Lateralized Declarative-Like Memory for Conditional Spatial Information in Domestic Chicks (Gallus gallus)

Author(s): Maria Loconsole , Elena Mascalzoni, Jonathan Niall Daisley, Massimo De Agrò ,Giorgio Vallortigara and Lucia Regolin
Published in: symmetry, Issue volume 13, Issue 5, 2021, ISSN 2073-8994
Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
DOI: 10.3390/sym13050906

Looks like home: numerosity, but not spatial frequency guides preference in zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio)

Author(s): Elisabeth Adam, Mirko Zanon, Andrea Messina, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Animal Cognition, Issue 27, 2025, ISSN 1435-9456
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01888-0

Core knowledge as a neuro-ethologist views it

Author(s): Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Issue 47, 2024, ISSN 0140-525X
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x23003035

Quantity as a Fish Views It: Behavior and Neurobiology

Author(s): Messina, Andrea; Potrich, Davide; Perrino, Matilde; Sheardown, Eva; Miletto Petrazzini, Maria Elena; Luu, Peter; Nadtochiy, Anna; Truong, Thai V.; Sovrano, Valeria Anna; Fraser, Scott E.; Brennan, Caroline H.; Vallortigara, Giorgio
Published in: FRONTIERS IN NEUROANATOMY, Issue 1, 2022, ISSN 1662-5129
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2022.943504

Manganese Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging reveals light-induced brain asymmetry in embryo

Author(s): Lorenzi, Elena; Tambalo, Stefano; Vallortigara, Giorgio; Bifone, Angelo
Published in: eLife, Vol 12 (2023), Issue 1, 2023, ISSN 2050-084X
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications
DOI: 10.7554/elife.86116

Valproic acid exposure affects social visual lateralization and asymmetric gene expression in zebrafish larvae

Author(s): Messina, Andrea; Sovrano, Valeria Anna; Baratti, Greta; Musa, Alessia; Gobbo, Alessandra; Adiletta, Alice; Sgadò, Paola
Published in: Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2024), Issue 3, 2024, ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54356-7

Number neurons in the nidopallium of young domestic chicks

Author(s): Dmitry Kobylkov, Uwe Mayer, Mirko Zanon, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: PNAS, Issue 119 (32), 2022, ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201039119

Towards a standardization of non-symbolic numerical experiments: GeNEsIS, a flexible and user-friendly tool to generate controlled stimuli

Author(s): Mirko Zanon, Davide Potrich, Maria Bortot, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Behavior Research Methods, Issue 54, 2022, Page(s) 146-157, ISSN 1554-3528
Publisher: Springer
DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01580-y

Archerfish number discrimination

Author(s): Davide Potrich, Mirko Zanon, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: eLife, Vol 11 (2022), 2022, ISSN 2050-084X
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications
DOI: 10.7554/elife.74057.sa0

A sense of number in invertebrates

Author(s): Maria Bortot, Lucia Regolin, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2020, ISSN 0006-291X
Publisher: Academic Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.11.039

Visual discrimination and amodal completion in zebrafish

Author(s): Valeria Anna Sovrano; Sofia Vicidomini; Davide Potrich; Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini; Greta Baratti; Orsola Rosa-Salva
Published in: PLOS ONE, Issue 2, 2022, ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher: Public Library of Science
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264127

Behavioural analysis of loss of function zebrafish supports baz1b as master regulator of domestication

Author(s): Jose Vicente Torres-Perez; Sofia Anagianni; Aleksandra Maria Mech; William Havelange; Judit Garcia-Gonzalez; Scott E Fraser; Giorgio Vallortigara; Caroline Helen Brennan
Published in: Crossref, Issue 1, 2022, ISSN 2589-0042
Publisher: Cell press Elsevier
DOI: 10.1101/2022.02.02.478842

Use of numerical and spatial information in ordinal counting by zebrafish

Author(s): Davide Potrich, Rosa Rugani, Valeria Anna Sovrano, Lucia Regolin, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Scientific Reports, Issue 9/1, 2019, ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-54740-8

Transfer from continuous to discrete quantities in honeybees

Author(s): Maria Bortot; Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: iScience, Vol 26, Iss 10, Pp 108035- (2023), Issue 1, 2023, ISSN 2589-0042
Publisher: iScience
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108035

Flickering stimuli presentation in imprinting

Author(s): Lemaire B.S.; Zanon, M.; Placì S.; Werk, B.; Vallortigara G.
Published in: Journal of Ornitology, 2023, ISSN 2193-7206
Publisher: Springer Link
DOI: 10.1007/s10336-023-02110-7

A left-to-right bias in number-space mapping across ages and cultures

Author(s): Elena Eccher, Mathilde Josserand, Serge Caparos, Esther Boissin, Marco Buiatti, Manuela Piazza, Giorgio Vallortigara
Published in: Nature Communications, Issue 16, 2025, ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55685-x

Brain asymmetry as minimization of free energy: a theoretical model

Author(s): Giorgio Vallortigara, Giuseppe Vitiello
Published in: Royal Society Open Science, Issue 11, 2024, ISSN 2054-5703
Publisher: The Royal Society
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240465

Other (1)

Neural Basis of Number Sense in Larval Zebrafish

Author(s): Peter Luu, Anna Nadtochiy, Mirko Zanon, Noah Moreno, Andrea Messina, Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini, Jose Vicente Torres Perez, Kevin Keomanee-Dizon, Matthew Jones, Caroline H. Brennan, Giorgio Vallortigara, Scott E. Fraser, Thai V. Truong
Published in: 2024
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.30.610552