Brain scan can display later math performances

Future math achievements in the brain recognizable

04/30/2013

Whether a primary school student in later life will have a good or rather poor understanding of mathematics can be seen in a US study in the brain: Thus, an early brain scan on the one hand could provide information on future performance, but could also be estimated to what extent math training would affect the kids.

Children acquire different degrees of mathematical knowledge
In particular, the size and connectivity of the hippocampus brain part would provide information about how students' performance in mathematics would develop, as the researchers at Kaustubh Supekar from the Stanford University School of Medicine (USA / California) currently report in the "Proceedings". Report to the US Academy of Sciences ("PNAS"). Since it seems that some students find math learning easier than others, it is important for the scientists to understand the context here: „Especially now that the ability to acquire mathematical knowledge more efficiently than ever before is critical to academic and professional success, little is known about the behavioral and neural mechanisms responsible for some children's ability to do so seem to acquire faster than others“, so the researchers in the abstract to their study.

Researchers from Stanford University study 24 primary school students
For this purpose, Kaustubh Supekar and his team examined 24 elementary school students at the age of eight and nine, respectively, in a relatively small study. In a first step, they determined the size and activity of different areas of the brain with the help of a magnetic resonance tomograph. In addition, the researchers collected further data on the children, such as reading ability, memory performance and the intelligence quotient. Afterwards, the students each completed a one-to-one mathematics course for eight weeks in which basic mathematical knowledge was imparted and practiced.

Private lessons invariably lead to improvements
After completing the one-to-one tuition, the researchers came to an interesting conclusion: Although all students had improved through the training hours and now expected faster, more efficient and error-free, but the degree of improvement was different degrees. In order to find an explanation for this phenomenon, the researchers then went in search of a connection with the previously determined data on intelligence quotient, reading ability etc. and finally came to the realization that none of these factors would say anything about how strong a For example, in a child with a high IQ, tuition does not automatically lead to better performance.

Connection between hippocampus and later math success
Instead, the scientists discovered that the hippocampus seems to play a key role here, as it showed a connection between its volume and its interconnectedness with other brain regions and the later success of mathematics teaching.

According to the scientists, the significance of the hippocampus in memory formation is not new - but this component of the brain, which functions as a central switching station of the limbic system, is also of great importance in connection with the learning of math, so far only marginally been noticed. Accordingly, the results of the researchers would generally show, „that quantitative measurements of the structure of the brain and the intrinsic organization of the brain are a more sensitive marker of skill acquisition than behavioral measurements.“ (No)

Picture: Gerd Altmann