Neural development and disorders of math processing

描述（由申请人提供）：数学障碍影响约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，顶叶内沟和额叶中回参与数量比较（如减法），但颞顶叶皮层和额叶下回参与数学事实的口头检索（如乘法）。成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的增加而增加，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随着发育而增加，一些有数学障碍的儿童在这个系统上表现出明显的缺陷。行为研究也表明，部分数学残疾儿童同时存在阅读障碍，一些人认为数学和阅读障碍儿童（MD+RD）在言语检索系统上存在缺陷，而仅数学残疾儿童（MD）在数量比较系统上存在缺陷。尽管已经有大量的成人神经影像学研究和儿童行为研究，但对儿童数学发展或数学障碍的神经基础知之甚少。该项目将使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）来检查正常发育儿童（10- 14岁）的数量比较（即减法）和语言检索（即乘法）的神经发育，并检查有和没有合并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。该项目将采用比较简单和困难的任务来更有效地描绘参与不同形式数学处理的大脑区域，采用纵向设计来检查早期功能是否预测以后的发展，以及阅读任务来确定它们与数学处理的相互关系。本研究旨在研究正常发育儿童和有或没有合并阅读障碍的数学障碍儿童的数学发展的神经基础，对数学障碍的诊断和治疗具有重要意义。

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.