Targeting This Brain Circuit Can Boost the Skills of Children Struggling With Math, Study Claims

New research said that the strength of a brain circuit predicts a child's ability to learn math. A news release from EurekAlert reported that researchers of the study claim they have found the brain circuit that boosts math skills. The use of tutoring regimes that target the circuit may improve learning outcomes for kids across a range of abilities.

The brain circuit involves the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), which is responsible for processing figures and is linked to the hippocampus, where memories are stored.

(Photo : Unsplash/Robina Weermeijer)
Targeting This Brain Circuit Boosts Math Abilities in Children, Study Claims

Hippocampal-Parietal Circuits Predict Individual Learning Gains

In the study titled "Foundational number sense training gains are predicted by hippocampal-parietal circuits," published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the team formulated a four-week training program that emphasized mapping symbols to the amounts they represent instead of the simple memorization technique.

According to MailOnline, the team used brain scans to look at the synchronized activity between the hippocampus and other brain areas of the participants aged seven to 10. They found a connection between the IPS and hippocampus before training predicted the ability of a child to learn number sense.

The findings suggest that those with more synchronized activity learned more during the course. It is especially true among developing children and children with difficulty learning math.

Experts have long known the role that IPS plays in number processing, but this is the first time that the circuits involved were identified. Study lead author Dr. Hyesung Chang from Stanford University in California said that the study was able to identify hippocampal-parietal circuits that predict individual differences in learning gains.

Therefore, triggering this brain circuit is predictive of foundational number sense skills and offers a new target for effective interventions and monitoring response to cognitive training.

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Roles of Brain Regions in the Development of Math Skills in Children

Dr. Chang said that the development of a child's mathematical ability during early childhood depends on number sense, which is the foundational ability that allows a person to discriminate between quantities. Number sense is known to be a good predictive factor in a person's academic and professional success, but deficits in it could lead to lifelong impairments in mathematical abilities.

Despite its importance, little is known about the unique function of the brain circuit involved. Extensive research has been conducted before involving problem-solving and processing numbers, such as addition and subtraction.

A 2011 paper suggests that problem-solving in mathematics uses three mental operations - namely, information storage, data organization, and executive control.

Meanwhile, a 2003 paper showed that imaging evidence indicates that areas in the parietal lobe are central for calculation and number sense and frontal lobe areas are for recalling numerical knowledge and working memory.

Furthermore, the paper noted that working memory is a comprehensive function of the brain that processes and stores information temporarily and plays an essential role in many cognitive actions.

RELATED ARTICLE: Adolescents Who Stopped Studying Math After 16 Are at Greater Disadvantage in Cognitive Development

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