{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T19:11:21Z","timestamp":1790795481164,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":88,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,1]],"date-time":"2024-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1719792000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Developmental Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:label\/><jats:p>Impaired numerosity perception in developmental dyscalculia (low \u201cnumber acuity\u201d) has been interpreted as evidence of reduced representational precision in the neurocognitive system supporting non\u2010symbolic number sense. However, recent studies suggest that poor numerosity judgments might stem from stronger interference from non\u2010numerical visual information, in line with alternative accounts that highlight impairments in executive functions and visuospatial abilities in the etiology of dyscalculia. To resolve this debate, we used a psychophysical method designed to disentangle the contribution of numerical and non\u2010numerical features to explicit numerosity judgments in a dot comparison task and we assessed the relative saliency of numerosity in a spontaneous categorization task. Children with dyscalculia were compared to control children with average mathematical skills matched for age, IQ, and visuospatial memory. In the comparison task, the lower accuracy of dyscalculics compared to controls was linked to weaker encoding of numerosity, but not to the strength of non\u2010numerical biases. Similarly, in the spontaneous categorization task, children with dyscalculia showed a weaker number\u2010based categorization compared to the control group, with no evidence of a stronger influence of non\u2010numerical information on category choice. Simulations with a neurocomputational model of numerosity perception showed that the reduction of representational resources affected the progressive refinement of number acuity, with little effect on non\u2010numerical bias in numerosity judgments. Together, these results suggest that impaired numerosity perception in dyscalculia cannot be explained by increased interference from non\u2010numerical visual cues, thereby supporting the hypothesis of a core number sense deficit.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Research Highlights<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:list list-type=\"bullet\">\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>A strongly debated issue is whether impaired numerosity perception in dyscalculia stems from a deficit in number sense or from poor executive and visuospatial functions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>Dyscalculic children show reduced precision in visual numerosity judgments and weaker number\u2010based spontaneous categorization, but no increasing reliance on continuous visual properties.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>Simulations with deep neural networks demonstrate that reduced neural\/computational resources affect the developmental trajectory of number acuity and account for impaired numerosity judgments.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>Our findings show that weaker number acuity in developmental dyscalculia is not necessarily related to increased interference from non\u2010numerical visual cues.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n<\/jats:list><\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/desc.13538","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,1]],"date-time":"2024-07-01T13:55:29Z","timestamp":1719842129000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Weaker number sense accounts for impaired numerosity perception in dyscalculia: Behavioral and computational evidence"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Serena","family":"Dolfi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization University of Padova  Padova 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