Aberrant spatiotemporal activation profiles associated with math difficulties in children: A magnetic source imaging study.

Abstract

There is ample evidence that parietal cortices serve as key components of the mechanism responsible for number processing. The goal of the present study was to investigate the relative degree and timing of cortical activation in parietal, temporal, and frontal regions during simple arithmetic tasks in children who experience math difficulties. Real-time brain activity was measured with magnetoencephalography during simple addition and numerosity judgments in students with math difficulties and average or above average reading skills (MD group, N = 14), students with below average scores on both math and basic reading tests (MD/RD group, N=16) and students with above average scores on standardized math tests (Control group, N=25). Children with MD showed increased degree of neurophysiological activity in inferior and superior parietal regions in the right hemisphere compared to both controls and MD/RD students. Left hemisphere inferior parietal regions did not show the expected task-related changes and showed activity at a significant temporal delay. MD students also showed increased early engagement of prefrontal cortices. Taken together, these findings may indicate increased reliance on a network of right hemisphere parietal (and possibly frontal areas as well) for simple math calculations in students who experience math difficulties but perform within normal range in reading.

Multi-method brain imaging reveals impaired representations of number as well as altered connectivity in adults with dyscalculia

“…The abovementioned results revealed no significant group differences in the level of activation for either numerical format. Previous research that compared the brain activity of individuals with and without dyscalculia (Ashkenazi et al., 2012; Mussolin et al., 2010b; Price et al., 2007; Rosenberg-Lee et al., 2015; Simos et al., 2008) only considered univariate comparisons. In this section, we conducted more refined analyses that allowed us to assess the quality of neural representations.…”

“…The available neuroimaging studies on dyscalculia, which mainly comprised studies with children, mainly considered the overall activation level in cortical regions associated with number processing and restricted their focus to the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). These studies have yielded mixed results and, depending upon task requirements, hypo-activation (Ashkenazi et al., 2012; Mussolin et al., 2010b; Price et al., 2007) as well as hyper-activation (Rosenberg-Lee et al., 2015; Simos et al., 2008) in the IPS in children with dyscalculia compared with matched controls have been reported. These differences in brain activity suggest an altered task-modulation of the IPS during number processing, but they do not directly provide any information about the quality of the involved representations.…”

Multi-method brain imaging reveals impaired representations as well as altered connectivity in adults with dyscalculia

“…The available neuroimaging studies in dyscalculia, which mostly involve studies in children, typically considered only the overall activation level in cortical regions associated with number processing and restricted their focus largely to the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). These studies have revealed mixed results and, depending upon task requirements, hypo-activation (Ashkenazi et al, 2012;Mussolin et al, 2010b;Price et al, 2007) as well as hyper-activation (Rosenberg-Lee et al, 2015;Simos et al, 2008) in the IPS has been reported. These differences in brain activity suggested an inappropriate task-modulation of the IPS during number processing, yet they did not directly provide any information about the quality of the involved representations.…”

Neurocognitive predictors of performance‐based functional capacity in bipolar disorder

“…When both variables were entered into the regression formula, visuospatial/constructional ability remained a significant predictor, suggesting that this neurocognitive domain, at least as measured by the Benton Judgment of Line task, is particularly important for this UPSA subdomain. The Benton Judgment of Line task is thought to be reliant on the right parietal region (Tranel, Vianna, Manzel, Damasio, & Grabowski, ), which has been found to be important for simple mathematical calculations (Simos et al ., ). Some studies have identified reduced neuronal activity in the parietal lobe of patients with BD (Özerdem, Güntekin, Atagün, Turp, & Başar, ; Pompei et al ., ), which may explain some of the impairments on these tasks in certain individuals.…”