Numerical Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology and Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 2K3.
J Neurosci. 2013 Jan 2;33(1):156-63. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2936-12.2013.
Do individual differences in the brain mechanisms for arithmetic underlie variability in high school mathematical competence? Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we correlated brain responses to single digit calculation with standard scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) math subtest in high school seniors. PSAT math scores, while controlling for PSAT Critical Reading scores, correlated positively with calculation activation in the left supramarginal gyrus and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, brain regions known to be engaged during arithmetic fact retrieval. At the same time, greater activation in the right intraparietal sulcus during calculation, a region established to be involved in numerical quantity processing, was related to lower PSAT math scores. These data reveal that the relative engagement of brain mechanisms associated with procedural versus memory-based calculation of single-digit arithmetic problems is related to high school level mathematical competence, highlighting the fundamental role that mental arithmetic fluency plays in the acquisition of higher-level mathematical competence.
大脑中用于算术的机制存在个体差异，这是否会导致高中生数学能力的差异？本研究采用功能磁共振成像技术，将高中生对一位数计算的大脑反应与 PSAT 数学子测验的标准分数进行相关分析。PSAT 数学分数与大脑左顶下小叶和双侧前扣带回皮层的计算激活呈正相关，这些脑区在进行算术事实检索时会被激活，而与 PSAT 批判性阅读分数无关。与此同时，计算过程中右侧顶内沟的激活程度越大，与 PSAT 数学分数越低有关，该区域被确定与数值数量处理有关。这些数据表明，与基于记忆的一位数算术计算相关的大脑机制的相对参与程度与高中生的数学能力有关，突出了心算流利度在获得更高水平数学能力方面的核心作用。
