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Polspoel B, Vandermosten M, De Smedt B. The value of structural brain imaging in explaining individual differences in children's arithmetic fluency. Cortex 2021; 144:99-108. [PMID: 34666301 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
How do different measures of brain structure correlate with individual differences in arithmetic fluency? This paper builds on two previously published studies in which individual differences in children's arithmetic fluency were correlated with measures of white (Polspoel et al., 2019) and grey matter (Polspoel et al., 2020) in one sample of children. We combined the brain imaging data of these two studies with measures of cognitive abilities that have been shown to be predictive of arithmetic fluency, i.e., numerical magnitude processing, working memory and rapid automatized naming (RAN). This allowed us to investigate to which extend the observed structural brain imaging measures uniquely correlated with children's arithmetic fluency, on top of each other as well as on top of the abovementioned cognitive variables. Participants were 43 typically developing 9-10-year-olds. All measures were added to a hierarchical multiple regression model. This regression model showed that the white matter integrity of the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus and the cortical complexity of the left postcentral gyrus remained unique predictors of individual differences in arithmetic when the abovementioned cognitive variables were taken into account. This indicates that structural neuroimaging measures can explain individual differences in arithmetic performance that are not merely accounted for by relevant cognitive predictors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brecht Polspoel
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Experimental ORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Bert De Smedt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium.
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Polspoel B, Vandermosten M, De Smedt B. The association of grey matter volume and cortical complexity with individual differences in children's arithmetic fluency. Neuropsychologia 2019; 137:107293. [PMID: 31809780 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Revised: 10/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Only a small amount of studies have looked at the structural neural correlates of children's arithmetic. Furthermore, these studies mainly implemented voxel-based morphometry, which only takes the volume of regions into account, without looking at other structural properties. The current study aimed to contribute knowledge on which brain regions are important for children's arithmetic on a structural level, by not only implementing voxel-based morphometry, but also cortical complexity analyses, based on the fractal dimension index. This complexity measure describes a characteristic of surface shape. Data of 43 typically developing 9-10 year-olds were analyzed. All children were asked to take part in two test sessions: behavioral data collection and MRI data acquisition. For data analysis, mean values for volume and cortical complexity were estimated within regions of interest (ROIs) and extracted for further analysis. The selected ROIs were based on regions found to be related to children's mathematical abilities in previous research. Results point towards associations between arithmetic fluency and the volume of the right fusiform gyrus, as well as the cortical complexity of the left postcentral gyrus, right insular sulcus, and left lateral orbital sulcus. Remarkably, no significant associations were observed between the children's arithmetic fluency and the volume or cortical complexity of typically arithmetic-associated parietal regions, such as the superior parietal lobe, intraparietal sulcus, or angular gyrus. Accordingly, the current study highlights the importance of structural characteristics of brain regions other than these typically arithmetic-associated parietal regions for children's arithmetic fluency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brecht Polspoel
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Bert De Smedt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium.
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Polspoel B, De Visscher A, Vandermosten M, Vogel SE, Grabner RH, De Smedt B. The neural substrates of the problem size and interference effect in children's multiplication: An fMRI study. Brain Res 2019; 1714:147-157. [PMID: 30836066 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2018] [Revised: 02/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Within children's multiplication fact retrieval, performance can be influenced by various effects, such as the well-known problem size effect (i.e., smaller problems are solved faster and more accurately) and the more recent interference effect (i.e., the quality of memory representations of problems depends on previously learned problems; the more similar a problem is to a previously learned one, the more proactive interference impacts on storing in long-term-memory). This interference effect has been observed in behavioral studies, and determines a substantial part of performance beyond problem size. Unlike the problem size effect, the neural basis of the interference effect in children has not been studied. To better understand the underpinning mechanisms behind children's arithmetic fact retrieval, we aimed to investigate the neural basis of both effects in typically developing children. Twenty-four healthy 9- to 10-year-olds took part in a behavioral and fMRI scanning session, during which multiplication items had to be solved. Data were analyzed by manipulating problem size and interference level in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Concurring with previous studies, our results reveal clear behavioral effects of problem size and interference, with larger and high interfering items being solved significantly slower. On the neural level, a clear problem size effect was observed in a fronto-parietal and temporal network. The interference effect, however, was not detected; no clear neural distinctions were observed between low and high interfering items.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brecht Polspoel
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Alice De Visscher
- Institut de Recherche en Sciences Psychologiques, Université catholique de Louvain, Place du Cardinal Mercier 10, Box L3.05.01, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Experimental ORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, Box 721, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Stephan E Vogel
- Educational Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Roland H Grabner
- Educational Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Bert De Smedt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
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Polspoel B, Vandermosten M, De Smedt B. Relating individual differences in white matter pathways to children's arithmetic fluency: a spherical deconvolution study. Brain Struct Funct 2018; 224:337-350. [PMID: 30317391 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-018-1770-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Accepted: 10/02/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Connectivity between brain regions is integral to efficient complex cognitive processing, making the study of white matter pathways in clarifying the neural mechanisms of individual differences in arithmetic abilities critical. This white matter connectivity underlying arithmetic has only been investigated through classic diffusion tensor imaging, which, due to methodological limitations, might lead to an oversimplification of the underlying anatomy. More complex non-tensor models, such as spherical deconvolution, however, allow a much more fine-grained delineation of the underlying brain anatomy. Against this background, the current study is the first to use spherical deconvolution to investigate white matter tracts and their relation to individual differences in arithmetic fluency in typically developing children. Participants were 48 typically developing 9-10-year-olds, who were all in grade 4, and who underwent structural diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Theoretically relevant white matter tracts were manually delineated with a region of interest approach, after which the hindrance modulated orientational anisotropy (HMOA) index, which provides information on the structural integrity of the tract at hand, was derived for each tract. These HMOA indices were correlated with measures of arithmetic fluency, using frequentist and Bayesian approaches. Our results point towards an association between the HMOA of the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus and individual differences in arithmetic fluency. This might reflect the efficiency with which children process Arabic numerals. Other previously found associations between white matter and individual differences in arithmetic fluency were not observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brecht Polspoel
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, box 3765, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Experimental ORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, box 721, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bert De Smedt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, box 3765, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
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Polspoel B, Peters L, Vandermosten M, De Smedt B. Strategy over operation: neural activation in subtraction and multiplication during fact retrieval and procedural strategy use in children. Hum Brain Mapp 2017. [PMID: 28626967 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Arithmetic development is characterized by strategy shifts between procedural strategy use and fact retrieval. This study is the first to explicitly investigate children's neural activation associated with the use of these different strategies. Participants were 26 typically developing 4th graders (9- to 10-year-olds), who, in a behavioral session, were asked to verbally report on a trial-by-trial basis how they had solved 100 subtraction and multiplication items. These items were subsequently presented during functional magnetic resonance imaging. An event-related design allowed us to analyze the brain responses during retrieval and procedural trials, based on the children's verbal reports. During procedural strategy use, and more specifically for the decomposition of operands strategy, activation increases were observed in the inferior and superior parietal lobes (intraparietal sulci), inferior to superior frontal gyri, bilateral areas in the occipital lobe, and insular cortex. For retrieval, in comparison to procedural strategy use, we observed increased activity in the bilateral angular and supramarginal gyri, left middle to inferior temporal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and superior medial frontal gyrus. No neural differences were found between the two operations under study. These results are the first in children to provide direct evidence for alternate neural activation when different arithmetic strategies are used and further unravel that previously found effects of operation on brain activity reflect differences in arithmetic strategy use. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4657-4670, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brecht Polspoel
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lien Peters
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Experimental ORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bert De Smedt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Peters L, Polspoel B, Op de Beeck H, De Smedt B. Brain activity during arithmetic in symbolic and non-symbolic formats in 9–12 year old children. Neuropsychologia 2016; 86:19-28. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2015] [Revised: 02/24/2016] [Accepted: 04/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Tacquet A, Tison F, Polspoel B, Roos P, Devulder B. [Reducing activity of mycobacteria on sodium nitrite. Study of the influence of culture media]. Ann Inst Pasteur (Paris) 1966; 111:359-363. [PMID: 5970795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
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Tacquet A, Tison F, Polspoel B, Roos P, Devulder B. [Study of beta-D-galactosidase of mycobacteria. (Preliminary note)]. Ann Inst Pasteur (Paris) 1966; 111:86-9. [PMID: 5936227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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Goudemand M, Parquet-Gernez A, Hutin A, Habay D, Polspoel B. [Thrombocythemias. (Apropos of 11 cases). II. Study of hemostatic functions]. Sem Hop 1965; 41:2522-32. [PMID: 4285195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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