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Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function
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Walking boosts your performance in making additions and subtractions.
Filomena Anelli1, Luisa Lugli2, Giulia Baroni2
1Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy ; Department of Philosophy and Communication Studies, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy.
Frontiers in Psychology
|January 8, 2015
Summary
Body movements influence arithmetic. Participants performing addition or subtraction showed a congruency effect between calculation type and leftward or rightward motion, impacting numerical cognition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Spatial Cognition
Background:
- Spatial information processing and numerical magnitude are interconnected.
- Body movements have been shown to influence number processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate how whole-body motion affects arithmetic calculations.
- Examine the influence of experienced motion on addition and subtraction.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed addition or subtraction tasks.
- Participants experienced concurrent leftward and rightward body motions along a horizontal axis.
Main Results:
- A congruency effect was observed between calculation type and motion direction.
- The orientation of arithmetic operations aligned with experienced motion direction.
Conclusions:
- Whole-body motion significantly influences arithmetic processing.
- Spatial-numerical associations extend to dynamic, embodied experiences.
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