Neural development and disorders of math processing

描述（由申请人提供）：数学残疾影响约6%的儿童人口，并持续到青春期，因此，代表了一个主要的生物医学问题。成人的神经心理学和神经影像学研究表明，顶叶内沟和额中回参与数量比较（例如减法），而颞顶叶皮层和额下回参与数学事实的语言提取（例如乘法）。对成年人的神经影像学研究也表明，对语言检索系统的依赖随着练习而增加，并且更多地用于更容易的问题。行为研究表明，对语言检索系统的依赖在发展中有所增加，一些数学障碍儿童在这一系统中表现出明显的缺陷。行为研究还表明，一些数学残疾儿童也有阅读障碍，一些人认为，数学和阅读残疾儿童（MD+RD）应该在言语检索系统中有缺陷，而数学残疾儿童（MD）应该在数量比较系统中有缺陷。虽然已经有大量的成人神经影像学研究和儿童行为学研究，但对儿童数学发展或数学障碍的神经基础知之甚少。本研究将利用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）来研究典型发育儿童（10- 14岁）的数量比较（即减法）和言语提取（即乘法）的神经发育，并研究患有和没有共病阅读障碍的儿童的数学障碍的神经基础。PI将使用传统的fMRI分析来检查信号强度的差异，但也将使用动态因果模型（DCM）来检查有效连接的差异。这个项目将采用简单与困难的任务，以更有效地描绘大脑区域参与不同形式的数学处理，纵向设计，以检查早期功能是否预测以后的发展，和阅读任务，以确定它们与数学处理的相互关系。本项目的结果，以检查在典型的发展中国家的儿童和儿童的数学发展的神经基础，数学残疾与和没有共病阅读残疾将有意义的诊断和补救的数学残疾。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Math disability affects about 6% of the childhood population and continues into adolescence, and therefore, represents a major biomedical issue. Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies in adults have implicated the intra-parietal sulcus and middle frontal gyrus in quantity comparison (e.g. subtraction), but have implicated the temporo- parietal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus in verbal retrieval of math facts (e.g. multiplication). Neuroimaging research in adults has also suggested that reliance on the verbal retrieval system increases with practice and it is utilized more for easier problems. Behavioral research suggests there are developmental increases in the reliance on the verbal retrieval system and that some children with math disability show pronounced deficits in this system. Behavioral research has also shown that some children with math disability have a reading disability, and some have suggested that children with a math and reading disability (MD+RD) should have a deficit in the verbal retrieval system, whereas children with a math disability only (MD) should have a deficit in the quantity comparison system. Although there has been a substantial amount of neuroimaging research in adults and behavioral research in children, very little is known about the neural basis of math development or of math disability in children. This project will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural development of quantity comparison (i.e. subtraction) and verbal retrieval (i.e. multiplication) in typically developing children (10- to 14-year-olds) and to examine the neural bases of math disability in children with and without co-morbid reading disability. The PIs will examine differences in signal intensity using conventional fMRI analyses, but will also examine differences in effective connectivity using dynamic causal modeling (DCM). This project will employ easier versus harder tasks to more effectively delineate brain regions involved in different forms of math processing, a longitudinal design to examine whether early functioning predicts later development, and reading tasks to determine their inter-relations with math processing. The results of this project to examine the neural basis of mathematical development in typically developing children and in children math disability with and without co-morbid reading disability will have implications for the diagnosis and remediation of math disability.