2021

Anobile, G., Morrone, M. C., Ricci, D., Gallini, F., Merusi, I., & Tinelli, F.

Typical Crossmodal Numerosity Perception in Preterm Newborns

Multisensory Research, 1–22

https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-bja10051 Download

Premature birth is associated with a high risk of damage in the parietal cortex, a key area for numerical and non-numerical magnitude perception and mathematical reasoning. Children born preterm have higher rates of learning difficulties for school mathematics. In this study, we investigated how preterm newborns (born at 28-34 weeks of gestation age) and full-term newborns respond to visual numerosity after habituation to auditory stimuli of different numerosities. The results show that the two groups have a similar preferential looking response to visual numerosity, both preferring the incongruent set after crossmodal habituation. These results suggest that the numerosity system is resistant to prematurity.