Stanislas Dehaene|Laurent D. Cohen
Cultural Recycling of Cortical Maps
Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab|Inserm|Direction de la Recherche Fondamentale|Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission|Collège de France|University of Paris-Sud|Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital|Sorbonne Université|Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris|Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab|Inserm|Université Paris Cité|Direction de la Recherche Fondamentale|Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission
part human cortex specialized cultural domains reading arithmetic whose invention recent influenced evolution species representations letter strings numbers occupy reproducible locations within largescale macromaps respectively left occipitotemporal bilateral intraparietal cortex furthermore recent fmri studies reveal systematic architecture within areas explain paradoxical cerebral invariance cultural maps propose neuronal recycling hypothesis according cultural inventions invade evolutionarily older brain circuits inherit many structural constraints