Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305-5719, USA.
Psychol Sci. 2012 May 1;23(5):492-501. doi: 10.1177/0956797611429134. Epub 2012 Mar 20.
Math anxiety is a negative emotional reaction to situations involving mathematical problem solving. Math anxiety has a detrimental impact on an individual's long-term professional success, but its neurodevelopmental origins are unknown. In a functional MRI study on 7- to 9-year-old children, we showed that math anxiety was associated with hyperactivity in right amygdala regions that are important for processing negative emotions. In addition, we found that math anxiety was associated with reduced activity in posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex regions involved in mathematical reasoning. Multivariate classification analysis revealed distinct multivoxel activity patterns, which were independent of overall activation levels in the right amygdala. Furthermore, effective connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex regions that regulate negative emotions was elevated in children with math anxiety. These effects were specific to math anxiety and unrelated to general anxiety, intelligence, working memory, or reading ability. Our study identified the neural correlates of math anxiety for the first time, and our findings have significant implications for its early identification and treatment.
数学焦虑是对涉及数学问题解决的情境的一种消极情绪反应。数学焦虑对个体的长期职业成功有不利影响，但它的神经发育起源尚不清楚。在一项对 7 至 9 岁儿童进行的功能性磁共振成像研究中，我们发现数学焦虑与右杏仁核区域的过度活跃有关，而右杏仁核区域对于处理负面情绪很重要。此外，我们还发现数学焦虑与参与数学推理的后顶叶和背外侧前额叶皮层区域的活动减少有关。多元分类分析揭示了独特的多体素活动模式，这些模式与右杏仁核的整体激活水平无关。此外，在患有数学焦虑症的儿童中，杏仁核和调节负面情绪的腹内侧前额叶皮层之间的有效连接增强。这些影响是针对数学焦虑症的，与一般焦虑症、智力、工作记忆或阅读能力无关。我们的研究首次确定了数学焦虑症的神经相关性，我们的研究结果对其早期识别和治疗具有重要意义。
