<
https://theconversation.com/bees-count-from-left-to-right-just-like-some-humans-apes-and-birds-new-research-242116>
"Picture writing the numbers 1 to 5 in a horizontal line, from smallest to
largest. Where did you put 1? If you placed 1 on the left and 5 on the right,
you share this preference with most humans.
Humans are not alone in this preference. Some other primates, and even some
birds, also order small-to-large quantities from left to right. Although, some
animals do prefer to order quantities from right to left.
This is known as the mental number line, and it shows how brains typically
organise information. But why do our brains do this?
To investigate how and why brains order numbers, it’s sometimes useful to step
back in time. How did a common ancestor of humans and insects order
information? To find out, we can compare the results of humans and bees: we
last shared a common ancestor more than 600 million years ago.
Two recent studies on bees have revealed a lot about how tiny brains order
numbers.
One study, conducted by a team in Europe, showed that bees prefer to order
lower numbers on the left and higher numbers on the right, just like many
humans. Our new study, led by Jung-Chun (Zaza) Kuo and her supervisory team,
has explored how numbers and space interact in the bee brain."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
