The brain-structural correlates of mathematical expertise

Early neural markers for individual difference in mathematical achievement determined from rational number processing

The neural markers for individual differences in mathematical achievement have been studied extensively using magnetic resonance imaging; however, high temporal resolution electrophysiological evidence for individual differences in mathematical achievement require further elucidation. This study evaluated the event-related potential (ERP) when 48 college students with high or low mathematical achievement (HA vs. LA) matched non-symbolic and symbolic rational numbers. Behavioral results indicated that HA students had better performance in the discretized non-symbolic matching, although the two groups showed similar performances in the continuous matching. ERP data revealed that even before non-symbolic stimulus presentation, HA students had greater Bereitschaftspotential (BP) amplitudes over posterior central electrodes. After the presentation of non-symbolic numbers, HA students had larger N1 amplitudes at 160 ms post-stimulus, over left-lateralized parieto-occipital electrodes. After the presentation of symbolic numbers, HA students displayed more profound P1 amplitudes at 100 ms post-stimulus, over left parietal electrodes. Furthermore, larger BP and N1 amplitudes were associated with the shorter reaction times, and larger P1 amplitudes corresponded to lower error rates. The BP effect could indicate preparation processing, and early left-lateralized N1 and P1 effects could reflect the non-symbolic and symbolic number processing along the dorsal neural pathways. These results suggest that the left-lateralized P1 and N1 components elicited by matching non-symbolic and symbolic rational numbers can be considered as neurocognitive markers for individual differences in mathematical achievement.

(Lack of) neural efficiency related to general giftedness and mathematical excellence: An EEG study

Previous studies on intelligence have demonstrated that higher abilities are associated with lower brain activation, indicating a higher neural efficiency. In other words, more able individuals use fewer brain resources. However, it is unclear whether the neural efficiency phenomenon also appears for mathematical performance, which is influenced by both domain-general giftedness and domain-specific competencies. Therefore, this study examined the effects of general giftedness (G) and excellence in mathematics (EM) on performance and brain activation while solving learning-based mathematical tasks that required translation from graphical to symbolic representations of functions. Overall, 118 high school students (aged 16-18) participated in the present study and were divided according to G and EM using a 2 × 2 study design. Participants worked on a function task requiring translation between symbolic and graphical representations of functions. Analyses of the behavioral data revealed positive effects of both G and EM on the accuracy of solutions and an interaction effect of both factors on reaction times, reflecting a positive effect of EM only among the gifted individuals. EEG analyses focused on oscillatory activity in the theta and alpha frequency bands and showed a significant effect of EM in the upper alpha band (10-12 Hz) event-related desynchronization (ERD) for both graphical and symbolic representations. Specifically, higher (compared to lower) EM was associated with a larger alpha ERD, indicating a higher level of brain activity. This stands in contrast with the neural efficiency phenomenon. These findings suggest that the neural efficiency phenomenon cannot be generalized to higher-order mathematical demands in high-performing individuals. Several explanations for this limitation are offered.

The effect of parietal glutamate/GABA balance on test anxiety levels in early childhood in a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

The increased prevalence of test anxiety in our competitive society makes it a health issue of public concern. However, its neurobiological basis, especially during the years of formal education, is currently scant. Previous research has highlighted the association between neural excitation/inhibition balance and psychopathology and disease. We examined whether the glutamate/GABA profile tracks test anxiety levels in development, using a cross-sectional and longitudinal design in a cohort spanning from early childhood to early adulthood (N = 289), reassessed approximately 21 months later (N = 194). We used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to noninvasively quantify glutamate and gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the middle frontal gyrus. We show that the glutamate/GABA balance within the IPS relates to current individual variation in test anxiety levels and predict future test anxiety approximately 21 months later. Critically, this relationship was observed during early childhood but not during the later developmental stages. Our results extend the use of the excitation/inhibition balance framework to characterize the psychopathology mechanisms of test anxiety, an underexplored yet widespread and debilitating condition that can impact early child development. Our findings provide a better understanding of the neurotransmitter basis underlying the emergence of anxiety disorders during development.

Relationships Between Mathematics Performance and Attitude to Mathematics: Influences of Gender, Test Anxiety, and Working Memory

Many studies have indicated that mathematics anxiety, and other negative attitudes and emotions toward mathematics, are pervasive and are associated with lower mathematical performance. Some previous research has suggested that working memory is related to both mathematics anxiety and mathematics. Moreover, both gender and chosen course of study (sciences vs. humanities) appeared likely to influence students’ attitudes to mathematics. In the present study, 40 university undergraduates completed a battery of assessments investigating working memory, attitude to mathematics, test anxiety. and mental and written arithmetic. Attitudes to mathematics were significantly associated with the other variables: working memory, test anxiety, and both measures of mathematical performance. The other variables were not strongly associated with one another. There were no gender differences in mathematical performance, but females exhibited more negative attitudes to mathematics and higher test anxiety than males. After controlling for test anxiety, there ceased to be significant gender differences in attitudes to mathematics. Science students had more positive attitudes to mathematics than humanities students, but the groups did not differ in test anxiety, Science students were better at written but not mental arithmetic. They were also better at working memory, but this was not a significant covariate when the groups were compared on mathematical performance and attitudes to mathematics The results are discussed, with particular focus on implications for future research on influences on mathematics anxiety.

The relation between parietal GABA concentration and numerical skills

Several scientific, engineering, and medical advancements are based on breakthroughs made by people who excel in mathematics. Our current understanding of the underlying brain networks stems primarily from anatomical and functional investigations, but our knowledge of how neurotransmitters subserve numerical skills, the building block of mathematics, is scarce. Using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (N = 54, 3T, semi-LASER sequence, TE = 32 ms, TR = 3.5 s), the study examined the relation between numerical skills and the brain's major inhibitory (GABA) and excitatory (glutamate) neurotransmitters. A negative association was found between the performance in a number sequences task and the resting concentration of GABA within the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS), a key region supporting numeracy. The relation between GABA in the IPS and number sequences was specific to (1) parietal but not frontal regions and to (2) GABA but not glutamate. It was additionally found that the resting functional connectivity of the left IPS and the left superior frontal gyrus was positively associated with number sequences performance. However, resting GABA concentration within the IPS explained number sequences performance above and beyond the resting frontoparietal connectivity measure. Our findings further motivate the study of inhibition mechanisms in the human brain and significantly contribute to our current understanding of numerical cognition's biological bases.

Gray matter volume in left intraparietal sulcus predicts longitudinal gains in subtraction skill in elementary school

Although behavioral studies show large improvements in arithmetic skills in elementary school, we do not know how brain structure supports math gains in typically developing children. While some correlational studies have investigated the concurrent association between math performance and brain structure, such as gray matter volume (GMV), longitudinal studies are needed to infer if there is a causal relation. Although discrepancies in the literature on the relation between GMV and math performance have been attributed to the different demands on quantity vs. retrieval mechanisms, no study has experimentally tested this assumption. We defined regions of interests (ROIs) associated with quantity representations in the bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and associated with the storage of arithmetic facts in long-term memory in the left middle and superior temporal gyri (MTG/STG), and studied associations between GMV in these ROIs and children's performance on operations having greater demands on quantity vs. retrieval mechanisms, namely subtraction vs. multiplication. The aims of this study were threefold: First, to study concurrent associations between GMV and math performance, second, to investigate the role of GMV at the first time-point (T1) in predicting longitudinal gains in math skill to the second time-point (T2), and third, to study whether changes in GMV over time were associated with gains in math skill. Results showed no concurrent association between GMV in IPS and math performance, but a concurrent association between GMV in left MTG/STG and multiplication skill at T1. This association showed that the higher the GMV in this ROI, the higher the children's multiplication skill. Results also revealed that GMV in left IPS and left MTG/STG predicted longitudinal gains in subtraction skill only for younger children (approximately 10 years old). Whereas higher levels of GMV in left IPS at T1 predicted larger subtraction gains, higher levels of GMV in left MTG/STG predicted smaller gains. GMV in left MTG/STG did not predict longitudinal gains in multiplication skill. No significant association was found between changes in GMV over time and longitudinal gains in math. Our findings support the early importance of brain structure in the IPS for mathematical skills that rely on quantity mechanisms.

Predicting learning and achievement using GABA and glutamate concentrations in human development

Previous research has highlighted the role of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in learning and plasticity. What is currently unknown is how this knowledge translates to real-life complex cognitive abilities that emerge slowly and how the link between these neurotransmitters and human learning and plasticity is shaped by development. While some have suggested a generic role of glutamate and GABA in learning and plasticity, others have hypothesized that their involvement shapes sensitive periods during development. Here we used a cross-sectional longitudinal design with 255 individuals (spanning primary school to university) to show that glutamate and GABA in the intraparietal sulcus explain unique variance both in current and future mathematical achievement (approximately 1.5 years). Furthermore, our findings reveal a dynamic and dissociable role of GABA and glutamate in predicting learning, which is reversed during development, and therefore provide novel implications for models of learning and plasticity during childhood and adulthood.

The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment

Formal education has a long-term impact on an individual's life. However, our knowledge of the effect of a specific lack of education, such as in mathematics, is currently poor but is highly relevant given the extant differences between countries in their educational curricula and the differences in opportunities to access education. Here we examined whether neurotransmitter concentrations in the adolescent brain could classify whether a student is lacking mathematical education. Decreased γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration within the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) successfully classified whether an adolescent studies math and was negatively associated with frontoparietal connectivity. In a second experiment, we uncovered that our findings were not due to preexisting differences before a mathematical education ceased. Furthermore, we showed that MFG GABA not only classifies whether an adolescent is studying math or not, but it also predicts the changes in mathematical reasoning ∼19 mo later. The present results extend previous work in animals that has emphasized the role of GABA neurotransmission in synaptic and network plasticity and highlight the effect of a specific lack of education on MFG GABA concentration and learning-dependent plasticity. Our findings reveal the reciprocal effect between brain development and education and demonstrate the negative consequences of a specific lack of education during adolescence on brain plasticity and cognitive functions.

Connectivity adaptations in dopaminergic systems define the brain maturity of investors

Investment decisions rely on perceptions from external stimuli along with the integration of inner brain-body signals, all of which are shaped by experience. As experience is capable of molding both the structure and function of the human brain, we have used a novel neuroimaging connectomic-genetic approach to investigate the influence of investment work experience on brain anatomy. We found that senior investors display higher gray matter volume and increased structural brain connectivity in dopamine-related pathways, as well as a set of genes functionally associated with adrenaline and noradrenaline biosynthesis (SLC6A3, TH and SLC18A2), which is seemingly involved in reward processing and bodily stress responses during financial trading. These results suggest the key role of catecholamines in the way senior investors harness their emotions while raising bodily awareness as they grow in investment maturity.

Persistent Differences in Brain Structure in Developmental Dyscalculia: A Longitudinal Morphometry Study

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a learning disability affecting the acquisition of numerical-arithmetical skills. Affected people show persistent deficits in number processing, which are associated with aberrant brain activation and structure. Reduced gray matter has been reported in DD for the parietal cortex including the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), but also the frontal and occipito-temporal cortex. Furthermore, dyscalculics show white matter differences for instance in the inferior (ILF) and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). However, the longitudinal development of these structural differences is unknown. Therefore, our goal was to investigate the developmental trajectory of gray and white matter in children with and without DD. In this longitudinal study, neuropsychological measures and T1-weighted structural images were collected twice with an interval of 4 years from 13 children with DD (8.2-10.4 years) and 10 typically developing (TD) children (8.0-10.4 years). Voxel-wise estimation of gray and white matter volumes was assessed using voxel-based morphometry for longitudinal data. The present findings reveal for the first time that DD children show persistently reduced gray and white matter volumes over development. Reduced gray matter was found in the bilateral inferior parietal lobes including the IPS, supramarginal gyri, left precuneus, cuneus, right superior occipital gyrus, bilateral inferior and middle temporal gyri, and insula. White matter volumes were reduced in the bilateral ILF and SLF, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), corticospinal tracts, and right anterior thalamic radiation (ATR). Behaviorally, children with DD performed significantly worse in various numerical tasks at baseline and follow-up, corroborating persistent deficits in number processing. The present results are in line with the literature showing that children with DD have reduced gray and white matter volumes in the numerical network. Our study further sheds light on the trajectory of brain development, revealing that these known structural differences in the long association fibers and the adjacent regions of the temporal- and frontoparietal cortex persist in dyscalculic children from childhood into adolescence. In conclusion, our results underscore that DD is a persistent learning disorder accompanied by deficits in number processing and reduced gray and white matter volumes in number related brain areas.

Occupational Neuroplasticity in the Human Brain: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies

Many studies have revealed the structural or functional brain changes induced by occupational factors. However, it remains largely unknown how occupation-related connectivity shapes the brain. In this paper, we denote occupational neuroplasticity as the neuroplasticity that takes place to satisfy the occupational requirements by extensively professional training and to accommodate the long-term, professional work of daily life, and a critical review of occupational neuroplasticity related to the changes in brain structure and functional networks has been primarily presented. Furthermore, meta-analysis revealed a neurophysiological mechanism of occupational neuroplasticity caused by professional experience. This meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies showed that experts displayed stronger activation in the left precentral gyrus [Brodmann area (BA)6], left middle frontal gyrus (BA6), and right inferior frontal gyrus (BA9) than novices, while meta-analysis of structural studies suggested that experts had a greater gray matter volume in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus (BA22) and right putamen than novices. Together, these findings not only expand the current understanding of the common neurophysiological basis of occupational neuroplasticity across different occupations and highlight some possible targets for neural modulation of occupational neuroplasticity but also provide a new perspective for occupational science research.