Individual differences in the activity of executive function brain regions during number comparison

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Mathematical abilities integrate domain-specific and domain-general skills, including executive functions (EF).
• Neuroimaging studies show consistent activation in intraparietal sulci during arithmetic, but EF-related frontal region activation varies.
• Individual differences and task demands may explain discrepancies in EF brain activation during math tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate neural activations related to the ratio effect in math and EF regions in adolescents.
• To examine the relationship between neural activity and behavioral measures of math ability and EF.
• To explore how numerical information format (symbolic vs. nonsymbolic) influences neural engagement and its link to individual differences.

Main Methods:

• Examined neural activations associated with the ratio effect in canonical math and EF regions.
• Utilized neuroimaging techniques to observe brain activity during symbolic (digits) and nonsymbolic (dot arrays) number comparison tasks.
• Correlated neural ratio effects with behavioral measures of calculation, math fluency, inhibitory control, and working memory.

Main Results:

• Differential relationships were found between behavioral measures and neural ratio effects for symbolic and nonsymbolic stimuli.
• Neural ratio effect in the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and left inferior frontal junction (IFJ) during symbolic comparison positively correlated with calculation scores.
• Neural ratio effect in the right and left IPL during nonsymbolic comparison positively correlated with math fluency.
• Inhibitory control positively correlated with nonsymbolic neural ratio effect in the left IFJ.
• Working memory positively correlated with symbolic neural ratio effect in the left IPL, left IFJ, left precentral gyrus, and left posterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Conclusions:

• The format of numerical information impacts the specific neural systems engaged during math tasks.
• Individual differences in math abilities are associated with variations in neural engagement.
• EFs like working memory and inhibitory control play distinct roles in processing symbolic and nonsymbolic numerical information, influencing math performance.