Brain structure, number magnitude processing, and math proficiency in 6- to 7-year-old children born prematurely

Abstract

The aim of the present voxel-based morphometry study was to examine the link between brain structure and number skills in a group of 6-7-year-old children born prematurely, which are considered to be an at-risk population for mathematical learning disabilities. Therefore, gray and white matter density values were extracted from brain areas previously reported to be relevant for number processing in developing brain systems and, thereafter, correlated with response time results tapping semantic number knowledge [i.e. numerical distance effect (NDE) derived from a number comparison task] as well as with general math proficiency (as indexed by a standardized calculation test). Behavioral results disclosed a significant NDE, thus indicating well-established number magnitude representations for one-digit numerals in our study group. Significant positive correlations between gray matter and NDE emerged in parietal regions (including the right anterior inferior and the left superior parietal lobe) and in the right superior temporal gyrus. Moreover, white matter and NDE were negatively correlated in the right anterior inferior parietal lobe and the right inferior frontal gyrus. Overall, our results are novel insofar as they show that in 6-7-year-old children born prematurely, individual differences in gray and white matter structures are associated with numerical skills. Importantly, in our study group the observed link between brain structure and behavioral performance emerges only regarding an experimental task tapping semantic number knowledge, whereas general math proficiency does not seem to be related to individual differences in brain structure in our study group.

Neuroanatomical correlates of performance in a state‐wide test of math achievement

“…Starke et al. () reported an association between white matter in the right IFG and the numerical distance effect in 6–7‐year‐old children, and Rotzer et al. () reported that children with Dyscalculia have decreased GM in the left IFG.…”

“…Cho et al (2012) demonstrated that children with higher arithmetic retrieval fluency have greater activation in the right hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus during arithmetic problem solving, while Supekar et al (2013) showed that increased GM volume in the hippocampus was related to gains in arithmetic ability in response to a tutoring intervention. Starke et al (2013) reported an association between white matter in the right IFG and the numerical distance effect in 6-7-year-old children, and Rotzer et al (2008) domain-general functions supported by the hippocampus and IFG play a crucial role in the effective acquisition of school-relevant math skills.…”

“…In addition, activation of the left angular gyrus (AG) has been associated with the processing of numerical symbols (Price & Ansari, 2011), fluent retrieval of arithmetic facts (Delazer et al, 2005), and individual differences in math competence (Grabner et al, 2007). Several anatomical studies have identified structural abnormalities such as reduced grey matter (GM), abnormal sulcul geometry, and reduced white matter integrity in the bilateral IPS and surrounding white matter tracts in children with mathematical learning difficulties (Han et al, 2008;Isaacs, Edmonds, Lucas, & Gadian, 2001;Lubin et al, 2013;Rykhlevskaia, Uddin, Kondos, & Menon, 2009;Starke et al, 2013). More recently, increased GM volume of the left IPS has been shown to correlate with higher math scores in typically developing populations (Li, Hu, Wang, Weng, & Chen, 2013;Price, Wilkey, Yeo, & Cutting, 2016).…”

Persistent Differences in Brain Structure in Developmental Dyscalculia: A Longitudinal Morphometry Study

“…Increased gray matter volume in the frontal (dorsal and ventral prefrontal cortices, IFG), occipito-temporal (cuneus, fusiform gyrus) and in the hippocampus also relates to better math performance (Li et al, 2013;Supekar et al, 2013;Evans et al, 2015;Wilkey et al, 2018). Moreover, associations between brain volume abnormalities and math performance have been reported for the gray matter volume of parietal regions in other populations prone to math difficulties (prematurely born children, very low birth weight, Turner syndrome; Isaacs et al, 2001;Starke et al, 2013;Zhao et al, 2013).…”

Primitive Concepts of Number and the Developing Human Brain

“…The papers were identified using literature searches and cited reference searches in Web of Science. Several additional papers that originally were identified by our search ultimately were excluded because they were written in a foreign language (n = 2, Russian: Varga, Pavlova, & Nosova, 2008; German: Krick et al, 2015), focused on a special population (children born prematurely, n = 1 Starke et al, 2013), reported results that were restricted by either another task or an anatomical mask (n = 2, Berteletti, Man, & Booth, 2014; Krinzinger et al, 2011), or had stimuli that were ambiguously symbolic or nonsymbolic (fingers; n = 1, Kaufmann et al, 2008). For each of the 14 included studies, we extracted the peak coordinates from all whole-brain analyses that localized numerical processing regions.…”