Developmental brain dynamics of numerical and arithmetic abilities

Abstract

The development of numerical and arithmetic abilities constitutes a crucial cornerstone in our modern and educated societies. Difficulties to acquire these central skills can lead to severe consequences for an individual’s well-being and nation’s economy. In the present review, we describe our current broad understanding of the functional and structural brain organization that supports the development of numbers and arithmetic. The existing evidence points towards a complex interaction among multiple domain-specific (e.g., representation of quantities and number symbols) and domain-general (e.g., working memory, visual–spatial abilities) cognitive processes, as well as a dynamic integration of several brain regions into functional networks that support these processes. These networks are mainly, but not exclusively, located in regions of the frontal and parietal cortex, and the functional and structural dynamics of these networks differ as a function of age and performance level. Distinctive brain activation patterns have also been shown for children with dyscalculia, a specific learning disability in the domain of mathematics. Although our knowledge about the developmental brain dynamics of number and arithmetic has greatly improved over the past years, many questions about the interaction and the causal involvement of the abovementioned functional brain networks remain. This review provides a broad and critical overview of the known developmental processes and what is yet to be discovered.

Editorial: Interpreting the Comorbidity of Learning Disorders

“…Similarly, neurobiological studies have identified differences in brain structure and function associated with a single disorder as well as differences potentially associated with the overlap between learning disorders. For example, much research has aimed to uncover structural and functional differences both in the case of dyslexia (e.g., Richlan et al, 2009 ; Ozernov-Palchik et al, 2016 ) and dyscalculia (Landerl et al, 2021 ; Vogel and De Smedt, 2021 ). However, studies explicitly investigating the neuronal overlap between dyslexia and dyscalculia and the complex interplay between the different levels of analyses (i.e., neurobiological and cognitive) and the behavioral manifestations are as yet rare (see for example Peters et al, 2018 ).…”

Editorial: Capturing developmental brain dynamics

“…Two other review papers in this Collection specifically focus on developmental brain dynamics underlying the acquisition of reading 6 and numerical and arithmetic abilities 7 and illustrate the importance of the methodological approaches above for research in these developmental domains. Both reading and math skills develop incrementally throughout primary school and beyond, and show large interindividual differences in learning pace and attained fluency levels.…”

“…Both reading and math skills develop incrementally throughout primary school and beyond, and show large interindividual differences in learning pace and attained fluency levels. Furthermore, while most children obtain sufficient reading and math skills, 5–10% of children are faced with severe and persistent difficulties due to developmental dyslexia or dyscalculia 6 , 7 . As discussed in Vogel and De Smedt 7 , individual differences in math skills are formed during the interactive development of multiple brain networks subserving domain-specific (e.g., representation of numerical quantities) and domain-general functions (e.g., verbal working memory).…”

“…Furthermore, while most children obtain sufficient reading and math skills, 5–10% of children are faced with severe and persistent difficulties due to developmental dyslexia or dyscalculia 6 , 7 . As discussed in Vogel and De Smedt 7 , individual differences in math skills are formed during the interactive development of multiple brain networks subserving domain-specific (e.g., representation of numerical quantities) and domain-general functions (e.g., verbal working memory). Their review of neuroimaging studies in children and adults outlines the developmental refinement of domain-specific and domain-general brain networks for numerical representations in parietal, occipital, and temporo-parietal cortex, with an additional contribution of dorsal and ventral frontal cortex and the hippocampus for arithmetic skills.…”

“…Their review of neuroimaging studies in children and adults outlines the developmental refinement of domain-specific and domain-general brain networks for numerical representations in parietal, occipital, and temporo-parietal cortex, with an additional contribution of dorsal and ventral frontal cortex and the hippocampus for arithmetic skills. It is discussed how the impaired acquisition of numerical abilities in dyscalculia is associated with atypical development of these brain systems 7 . Crucially however, Vogel and De Smedt point out that so far, most evidence for these altered neural representations and mechanisms is based on cross-sectional studies of groups of participants in primary school age or older (e.g., adults), making it difficult to separate causes from consequences.…”