Can animals count?

Research team from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) has made a groundbreaking discovery regarding number sense in animals by confirming the existence of discrete number sense in rats, offering a crucial animal model for investigating the neural basis of numerical ability and disability in humans.

The research team has developed an innovative approach that employs a novel numerical learning task, brain manipulation techniques and artificial intelligence modelling, and that resolves an ongoing argument about whether rats have a sense of numbers. The study sheds light on the mechanisms underlying numerical ability. The findings have been published in the renowned multidisciplinary scientific journal Science Advances.

Number sense closely linked to survival and intelligence

Number sense is a fundamental ability in animals' perception of the world and increases their chances of survival.

It is also an important cognitive ability, which is fundamental to mathematical aptitude, a hallmark of human intelligence. About 3% to 7% of people suffer from dyscalculia, a learning disability that affects the ability to learn arithmetic and mathematics of people of normal intelligence; a deficit in number sense is one of the major symptoms.