Development and plasticity of numerical and mathematical processing in the human brain

人脑数值和数学处理的发展和可塑性

• 批准号: 342192-2012
• 负责人: Ansari, Daniel
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=549611
• 关键词: Development; plasticity; numerical; mathematical; processing

In our daily lives we are constantly processing numerical information. Research has demonstrated that basic numerical and mathematical skills are crucial for school and life success. Surprisingly, mathematical skills have been found to be a stronger predictor of school success than reading abilities. Moreover, there is abundant evidence to suggest that costs of low numeracy to society are substantial. For example, individuals with low numerical abilities have been found to be more likely to offend, be unemployed and suffer from debilitating illnesses. The long-term aim of the proposed research program is to better understand how children develop basic numerical and mathematical skills and to use information from research to inform the design of evidence-based programs to measure and improve numerical skills. To explore the process by which children become numerate I use a multi-method approach that spans behavioral and neuroimaging methods. The specific aims of the present proposal are a.) to better understand how learning the meaning of numerical symbols (e.g Arabic digits) changes brain function and b.) how learning mental arithmetic and improving the strategies one uses to solve problems (e.g. moving from using fingers to aid in adding to retrieving the answers to calculation problems from memory) is reflected in the brain. To address the first of these research aims, my research team and I will study 4-7 year old children using functional brain imaging to better understand what happens in the brain when children move from viewing numerical symbols as meaningless shapes toward understanding the numerical meaning of these symbols. This research will reveal how the brain becomes specialized for symbolic number processing. In the empirical studies to address the second aim, we will evaluate the effects of arithmetic training on brain function in both children and adults. The combination of these studies will provide a richer picture into the ways in which brain pathways for number processing and calculation are laid down over the course of learning and development.

在我们的日常生活中，我们不断地处理数字信息。研究表明，基本的数字和数学技能对学校和生活的成功至关重要。令人惊讶的是，数学技能被发现比阅读能力更能预测学校的成功。此外，有大量证据表明，低算术能力对社会的成本是巨大的。例如，人们发现，数字能力低的人更容易犯罪、失业和患上使人衰弱的疾病。拟议的研究计划的长期目标是更好地了解儿童如何发展基本的数字和数学技能，并利用研究信息为循证方案的设计提供信息，以衡量和提高数字技能。为了探索儿童获得算术能力的过程，我使用了涵盖行为和神经成像方法的多方法方法。本提案的具体目标是：（a）为了更好地理解学习数字符号（例如阿拉伯数字）的含义如何改变大脑功能和B。）学习心算和改进解决问题的策略（例如从使用手指帮助添加到从记忆中检索计算问题的答案）如何反映在大脑中。 为了解决这些研究目标中的第一个，我和我的研究团队将使用功能性脑成像来研究4-7岁的儿童，以更好地了解当儿童从将数字符号视为无意义的形状转向理解这些符号的数字含义时，大脑中发生了什么。这项研究将揭示大脑是如何专门处理符号数字的。 在针对第二个目标的实证研究中，我们将评估算术训练对儿童和成人大脑功能的影响。这些研究的结合将为数字处理和计算的大脑通路在学习和发展过程中的方式提供更丰富的图片。