Cantlon studied anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington. She moved to Duke University for her graduate studies, where she worked with Elizabeth Brannon on the neural bases of mathematical knowledge. Early in her graduate studies, Cantlon trained herself in functional MRI, recognising that neuroimaging could be used to further our understanding of learning. Her research involved investigations into the origin of the human and primate capacity for mathematics. Cantlon showed that monkeys can perform mental arithmetic. Working with Brannon, Cantlon constructed a mathematical task that asked monkeys to deduce whether a series of numbers were larger or smaller than the ones that proceeded them. This study showed that the mechanism that monkeys use to make comparisons are the same as the ones humans use. To prove the numerical skills of monkeys, Cantlon constructed an experiment where macaques interacted with a touchscreen computer that displayed basic mathematical challenges. Cantlon presented the same challenges to college students, who achieved 94% correct answers, whilst the monkeys were successful 76% of the time. The monkeys and college students had the same reaction time. She completed her doctorate in 2007.
Research and career
Cantlon joined the University of Rochester as an Assistant Professor in 2009. Here she studied the innate ability of humans to recognise and understand numbers. Whilst the capacity for complicated symbolic mathematics appears to be unique to humans, it is not clear where this numerical prowess emerges from. She combines psychological investigations with Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Positron Emission Tomography to understand mathematical intuition. She continued to study the mathematical abilities of monkeys, showing that even young baboons can differentiate between large and small numbers. Whilst working at the University of Rochester Cantlon was one of the whistleblowers who reported the inappropriate behaviour of Florian Jaeger. This behaviour included the use of drugs and hot tub parties with students. In 2016, Cantlon and Richard Aslin filed a lawsuit that outlined how Jaeger had acted as a sexual harasser and presented a risk to students. The University did not support their claims, and proceeded to investigate Cantlon and Aslin's university e-mail accounts. In 2017 Cantlon and Celeste Kidd sued the University of Rochester, claiming that they had attempted to cover-up Jaegar's sexual harassment. Later that year Cantlon left her position at the University of Rochester after they failed to act after claims of sexual harassment. In January 2018, an independent investigation into the conduct of Jaegar concluded that he did engage with "inappropriate, unprofessional and offensive" behaviour that students should not have to experience. In March 2020, Cantlon and the other plaintiffs settled with the University or Rochester, through their attorney Ann Olivarius, for $9.4 million. "I think it’s going to have a really powerful impact on how seriously universities take women who come forward with complaints of sexual harassment," said Cantlon. In 2018 Cantlon was made the Zdrojkowski Chair in Developmental Neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University. Using MRI, Cantlon studied activity in the intraparietal sulcus of young people during numerical tasks. She demonstrated that boys and girls have identical capabilities.
