Mathematics anxiety reduces default mode network deactivation in response to numerical tasks

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Mathematics anxiety negatively impacts math performance and professional success.
• High mathematics anxiety may consume working memory resources, affecting brain activity in the default mode network (DMN).
• Interpreting group differences is challenging due to the common association between math anxiety and poor performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural differences in brain activity between individuals with high and low mathematics anxiety.
• To determine if mathematics anxiety affects brain regions involved in self-referential processing (DMN) during numerical tasks.
• To clarify the relationship between mathematics anxiety, cognitive control, and task performance.

Main Methods:

• Compared blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses in 18 high mathematics anxiety (HMA) and 18 low mathematics anxiety (LMA) participants.
• Participants were matched for mathematical performance.
• Two numerical tasks were used: number comparison and number bisection.

Main Results:

• LMAs exhibited stronger deactivation within the DMN compared to HMAs during both numerical tasks.
• No significant differences in BOLD-response were found in task-related activation areas between HMAs and LMAs.
• The difference in DMN deactivation was more pronounced for tasks requiring inhibitory functions.

Conclusions:

• Mathematics anxiety is associated with altered DMN functioning, specifically reduced deactivation, even when mathematical performance is matched.
• Cognitive control mechanisms, reflected in DMN activity, may be more affected by math anxiety than the core processing of numerical information.
• Findings suggest that interventions targeting cognitive control and anxiety reduction could benefit individuals with mathematics anxiety.