Attitudes Toward Math Are Differentially Related to the Neural Basis of Multiplication Depending on Math Skill

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-191
Author(s):  
Ö. Ece Demir-Lira ◽  
Macarena Suárez-Pellicioni ◽  
John V. Binzak ◽  
James R. Booth

Attitudes toward math (ATM) predict math achievement. Negative ATM are associated with avoidance of math content, while positive ATM are associated with exerting more effort on math tasks. Recent literature highlights the importance of considering interactions between ATM and math skill in examining relations to achievement. This study investigated, for the first time, the effects of the interaction between math skill and ATM on the neurocognitive basis of arithmetic processing. We examined the effect of this interaction using a single-digit multiplication task in 9- to 12-year-old children. Results showed that higher math skill was correlated with less activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and positive ATM were correlated with less activation in the left IFG. The relation between ATM and the neural basis of multiplication varied depending on math skill. Only among children with lower math skill, positive ATM were associated with greater activation of the left IFG. The results suggest that positive ATM in low-skill children might encourage them to more fully engage the neurocognitive systems underlying controlled effort and retrieval of multiplication facts. Our results highlight the importance of examining the role of both attitudinal and cognitive factors on the neural basis of arithmetic development.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 4410-4423
Author(s):  
You Li ◽  
Carol Seger ◽  
Qi Chen ◽  
Lei Mo

Abstract Humans are able to categorize things they encounter in the world (e.g., a cat) by integrating multisensory information from the auditory and visual modalities with ease and speed. However, how the brain learns multisensory categories remains elusive. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate, for the first time, the neural mechanisms underpinning multisensory information-integration (II) category learning. A sensory-modality-general network, including the left insula, right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), supplementary motor area, left precentral gyrus, bilateral parietal cortex, and right caudate and globus pallidus, was recruited for II categorization, regardless of whether the information came from a single modality or from multiple modalities. Putamen activity was higher in correct categorization than incorrect categorization. Critically, the left IFG and left body and tail of the caudate were activated in multisensory II categorization but not in unisensory II categorization, which suggests this network plays a specific role in integrating multisensory information during category learning. The present results extend our understanding of the role of the left IFG in multisensory processing from the linguistic domain to a broader role in audiovisual learning.


Neuroreport ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 431-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Inui ◽  
Kenji Ogawa ◽  
Masato Ohba

2011 ◽  
Vol 1383 ◽  
pp. 196-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.C. Keuken ◽  
A. Hardie ◽  
B.T. Dorn ◽  
S. Dev ◽  
M.P. Paulus ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 1229 ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Grindrod ◽  
Natalia Y. Bilenko ◽  
Emily B. Myers ◽  
Sheila E. Blumstein

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1140-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiano Crescentini ◽  
Tim Shallice ◽  
Emiliano Macaluso

Selection between competing responses and stimulus-response association strength is thought to affect performance during verb generation. However, the specific contribution of these two processes remains unclear. Here we used fMRI to investigate the role of selection and association within frontal and BG circuits that are known to be involved in verb production. Subjects were asked to generate verbs from nouns in conditions requiring either high or low selection, but with constant association strength, and in conditions of weak or strong association strength, now with constant selection demands. Furthermore, we examined the role of selection and association during noun generation from noun stimuli. We found that the midpart of the left inferior frontal gyrus was more active in conditions requiring high compared with low selection, with matched association strength. The same left inferior frontal region activated irrespective of verb or noun generation. Results of ROI analyses showed effects of association strength only for verb generation and specifically in the anterior/ventral part of the left inferior frontal gyrus. Moreover, the BG were more active when weakly associated verbs had to be produced relative to weakly associated nouns. These results highlight a functional segregation within the left inferior frontal gyrus for verb generation. More generally, the findings suggest that both factors of selection between competing responses and association strength are important during single-word production with the latter factor becoming particularly critical when task-irrelevant stimuli interfere with the current task (here nouns during verb production), triggering additional activation of the BG.


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