Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14607, United States.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2012 Feb 15;2 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S139-51. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2011.11.003. Epub 2011 Nov 22.
In this study we test the hypothesis that the functional connectivity of the frontal and parietal regions that children recruit during a basic numerical task (matching Arabic numerals to arrays of dots) is predictive of their math test scores (TEMA-3; Ginsburg, 2003). Specifically, we tested 4-11-year-old children on a matching task during fMRI to localize a fronto-parietal network that responds more strongly during numerical matching than matching faces, words, or shapes. We then tested the functional connectivity between those regions during an independent task: natural viewing of an educational video that included math topics. Using this novel natural viewing method, we found that the connectivity between frontal and parietal regions during task-independent free-viewing of educational material is correlated with children's basic number matching ability, as well as their scores on the standardized test of mathematical ability (the TEMA). The correlation between children's mathematics scores and fronto-parietal connectivity is math-specific in the sense that it is independent of children's verbal IQ scores. Moreover, a control network, selective for faces, showed no correlation with mathematics performance. Finally, brain regions that correlate with subjects' overall response times in the matching task do not account for our number- and math-related effects. We suggest that the functional intersection of number-related frontal and parietal regions is math-specific.
在这项研究中，我们检验了一个假设，即儿童在基本数字任务（将阿拉伯数字与点数组匹配）中招募的额顶区域的功能连接性可以预测他们的数学考试成绩（TEMA-3；Ginsburg，2003）。具体来说，我们在 fMRI 上对 4-11 岁儿童进行了匹配任务测试，以定位一个额顶网络，该网络在数字匹配中比匹配面孔、单词或形状时反应更强烈。然后，我们在一个独立的任务中测试了这些区域之间的功能连接：自然观看包含数学主题的教育视频。使用这种新颖的自然观察方法，我们发现，在独立于任务的情况下，自由观看教育材料时，额顶区域之间的连接与儿童的基本数字匹配能力以及他们在标准化数学能力测试（TEMA）中的分数相关。儿童数学成绩与额顶连接之间的相关性是数学特有的，因为它独立于儿童的语言智商分数。此外，专门针对面孔的控制网络与数学表现没有相关性。最后，与匹配任务中受试者整体反应时间相关的大脑区域并不能解释我们的数字和数学相关效应。我们认为，与数字相关的额顶区域的功能交叉是数学特有的。
