The neural pathway underlying a numerical working memory task in abacus-trained children and associated functional connectivity in the resting brain

Li, Yongxin; Hu, Yuzheng; Zhao, Ming; Wang, Yunqi; Huang, Jian; Chen, Feiyan

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2013.09.030

Cited by 36 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…First, brain activation related to EF may increase after AMC training, possibly due to the implementation of a visuospatial imagery strategy. This prediction is consistent with findings from several AMC studies [Hanakawa et al, ; Li et al, ; Tanaka et al, ]. These studies have consistently reported greater frontoparietal activation in calculation and digit memory tasks for AMC experts relative to matched controls.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…However, previous studies examining impacts of AMC training on EF are few in number, and focus on only one component of EF, namely, working memory. For example, several studies reported that AMC training could improve working memory in children and adults [Dong et al, ; Lee et al, ; Li et al, ; Tanaka et al, ]. Only one study provided evidence that three‐year AMC training enhanced the association between task switching and mathematics in children at about 9 years of age [Wang et al, ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of abacus training on executive function development and underlying neural correlates in Chinese children

Wang

Weng

Yao

et al. 2017

Human Brain Mapping

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Executive function (EF) refers to a set of cognitive abilities involved in self-regulated behavior. Given the critical role of EF in cognition, strategies for improving EF have attracted intensive attention in recent years. Previous studies have explored the effects of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training on several cognitive abilities. However, it remains unclear whether AMC training affects EF and its neural correlates. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to AMC or control groups upon starting primary school. The AMC group received 2 h AMC training every week, while the control group did not have any abacus experience. Neural activity during an EF task was examined using functional MRI for both groups in their 4 and 6 grades. Our results showed that the AMC group performed better and faster than the control group in both grades. They also had lower activation in the frontoparietal reigons than the control group in the 6 grade. From the 4 to the 6 grade, the AMC group showed activation decreases in the frontoparietal regions, while the control group exhibited an opposite pattern. Furthermore, voxel-wise regression analyses revealed that better performance was associated with lower task-relevant brain activity in the AMC group but associated with greater task-relevant brain activity in the control group. These results suggest that long-term AMC training, with calculation ability as its original target, may improve EF and enhance neural efficiency of the frontoparietal regions during development. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5234-5249, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of abacus training on executive function development and underlying neural correlates in Chinese children

Wang

Weng

Yao

et al. 2017

Human Brain Mapping

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, studies of older children learning to read, write, and compute provide direct evidence of brain networks being modulated by changes in behavior and input statistics [7, 59–61]. Literacy acquired during childhood and adulthood is associated with largely similar patterns in structural [62] and functional [63] brain networks, underscoring the importance of behavior in creating those changes.…”

Section: Extended Brain-body-behavior Network Change Across Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental process emerges from extended brain–body–behavior networks

Byrge

Sporns

Smith

2014

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

198

100

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Studies of brain connectivity have focused on two modes of networks: structural networks describing neuroanatomy and the intrinsic and evoked dependencies of functional networks at rest and during tasks. Each mode constrains and shapes the other across multiple time scales, and each also shows age-related changes. Here we argue that understanding how brains change across development requires understanding the interplay between behavior and brain networks: changing bodies and activities modify the statistics of inputs to the brain; these changing inputs mold brain networks; these networks, in turn, promote further change in behavior and input.

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“…While naive control participants were much more disrupted by verbal interference, MA users showed larger interference effects for manual interference. In addition, a growing neuroimaging literature suggests that MA computations are associated with regions that support spatial and visual working memory (Chen et al, 2006;Du et al, 2013;Hanakawa, Honda, Okada, Fukuyama, & Shibasaki, 2003;Hu et al, 2011;Li et al, 2013;Li, Chen, & Huang, 2016;Tanaka, Michimata, Kaminaga, Honda, & Sadato, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A one-year classroom-randomized trial of mental abacus instruction for first- and second-grade students

et al. 2018

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Mental Abacus (MA) is a popular arithmetic technique in which students learn to solve math problems by visualizing a physical abacus structure. Prior studies conducted in Asia have found that MA can lead to exceptional mathematics achievement in highly motivated individuals, and that extensive training over multiple years can also benefit students in standard classroom settings. Here we explored the benefits of shorter-term MA training to typical students in a US school. Specifically, we tested whether MA (1) improves arithmetic performance relative to a standard math curriculum, and (2) leads to changes in spatial working memory, as claimed by several recent reports. To address these questions, we conducted a one-year, classroom-randomized trial of MA instruction. We found that first-graders students struggled to achieve abacus expertise over the course of the year, while second-graders were more successful. Neither age group showed a significant advantage in cognitive abilities or mathematical computation relative to controls, although older children showed some hints of an advantage in learning place-value concepts. Overall, our results suggest caution in the adoption of MA as a short-term educational intervention.

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The neural pathway underlying a numerical working memory task in abacus-trained children and associated functional connectivity in the resting brain

Cited by 36 publications

References 41 publications

Effect of abacus training on executive function development and underlying neural correlates in Chinese children

Effect of abacus training on executive function development and underlying neural correlates in Chinese children

Developmental process emerges from extended brain–body–behavior networks

A one-year classroom-randomized trial of mental abacus instruction for first- and second-grade students

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