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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
10:58
Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics (BM-PROMA)
Published on: August 28, 2021
How specifically do we learn? Imaging the learning of multiplication and subtraction
Anja Ischebeck1, Laura Zamarian, Christian Siedentopf
1Innsbruck Medical University, Clinical Department of Neurology, Anichstrasse 35, 6020-Innsbruck, Austria. anja.ischebeck@uklibk.ac.at
Neuroimage
|January 18, 2006
Summary
Training arithmetic operations like multiplication and subtraction modifies brain activity. Learning subtraction enhances efficiency, while multiplication shifts to automatic retrieval, demonstrating content-dependent learning effects in the brain.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Learning and training significantly alter brain function.
- Arithmetic processing involves distinct neural networks.
- Understanding how training impacts these networks is crucial for cognitive science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how training affects brain activation patterns during arithmetic tasks.
- To compare the neural changes associated with learning multiplication versus subtraction.
- To explore the role of cognitive processes like working memory and retrieval in arithmetic learning.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
- Healthy young adults underwent five training sessions for multiplication and subtraction.
- Trained and untrained arithmetic problems, matched for difficulty, were presented during fMRI scans.
Main Results:
- Training reduced activation in general-purpose brain regions (inferior frontal, parietal) for both operations.
- Multiplication training uniquely increased activation in the left angular gyrus.
- Subtraction training appeared to enhance efficiency, while multiplication training shifted towards automatic retrieval.
Conclusions:
- Arithmetic training reduces reliance on general cognitive resources like working memory.
- The neural changes observed depend on the specific arithmetic operation being learned.
- Learning content influences the cognitive strategies and associated brain activation patterns.
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