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Updated: May 21, 2026
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Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics (BM-PROMA)
Published on: August 28, 2021
Early learning shapes the memory networks for arithmetic: evidence from brain potentials in bilinguals
Elena Salillas1, Nicole Y Y Wicha
1Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. e.salillas@bcbl.eu
Psychological Science
|June 19, 2012
Summary
Adult bilinguals showed distinct brain responses when recalling multiplication facts in their first learned language versus their dominant language. This suggests early learning, not current language dominance, shapes adult math-language connections.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Mathematics Education
Background:
- The relationship between language and mathematical processing in adults remains less understood than in children.
- Early learning experiences may critically influence the adult math-language connection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of early arithmetic learning in the math-language connection in adult bilinguals.
- To determine if the language of initial arithmetic acquisition impacts adult processing of mathematical facts.
Main Methods:
- Tested adult bilinguals on simple multiplication fact retrieval.
- Measured electrophysiological and behavioral responses to problems presented as digits or number words.
- Compared responses for problems in the language of initial arithmetic learning versus the other language.
Main Results:
- Problems in the initially learned language elicited stronger, more graded, and qualitatively different brain responses.
- These responses were more similar to digit processing, irrespective of current language dominance.
- Behavioral and electrophysiological data indicated a significant effect of the language of initial learning.
Conclusions:
- The memory networks for arithmetic are established during initial learning and are independent of language dominance in adulthood.
- Early language experiences significantly shape the neural representation of mathematical knowledge.
- This highlights the lasting impact of early educational experiences on cognitive functions.
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