Università degli studi di Trento, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), Rovereto 38123, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Laboratory for Developmental Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Feb 7;120(6):e2213430120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2213430120. Epub 2023 Feb 2.
Many teaching websites, such as the Khan Academy, propose vivid videos illustrating a mathematical concept. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we asked whether watching such a video suffices to rapidly change the brain networks for mathematical knowledge. We capitalized on the finding that, when judging the truth of short spoken statements, distinct semantic regions activate depending on whether the statements bear on mathematical knowledge or on other domains of semantic knowledge. Here, participants answered such questions before and after watching a lively 5-min video, which taught them the rudiments of a new domain. During the video, a distinct math-responsive network, comprising anterior intraparietal and inferior temporal nodes, showed intersubject synchrony when viewing mathematics course rather than control courses in biology or law. However, this experience led to minimal subsequent changes in the activity of those domain-specific areas when answering questions on the same topics a few minutes later. All taught facts, whether mathematical or not, led to domain-general repetition enhancement, particularly prominent in the cuneus, posterior cingulate, and posterior parietal cortices. We conclude that short videos do not suffice to induce a meaningful lasting change in the brain's math-responsive network, but merely engage domain-general regions possibly involved in episodic short-term memory.
许多教学网站,如可汗学院,提供生动的视频来讲解数学概念。我们利用功能磁共振成像技术,研究观看这样的视频是否足以快速改变大脑的数学知识网络。我们利用了这样一个发现:在判断简短口语陈述的真实性时,根据陈述是否涉及数学知识或其他语义知识领域,不同的语义区域会激活。在这里,参与者在观看一个生动的 5 分钟视频之前和之后回答这些问题,视频教授了他们一个新领域的基础知识。在观看数学课程而不是生物或法律等控制课程时,视频会引发一个明显的数学反应网络,包括前内顶叶和下颞叶节点,这些节点在观看课程时会出现跨被试的同步。然而,几分钟后回答关于同一主题的问题时,这种体验只导致这些特定领域的活动发生最小的后续变化。所有教授的事实,无论是数学的还是非数学的,都会导致大脑的一般重复增强,在楔前叶、后扣带和顶后叶皮质中尤为明显。我们的结论是,短视频不足以引起大脑的数学反应网络的有意义的持久变化,而只是激活了可能涉及情景短期记忆的一般领域。