The differential role of verbal and spatial working memory in the neural basis of arithmetic
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We examine the relations of verbal and spatial working memory (WM) ability to the neural bases of arithmetic in school-age children. We independently localize brain regions subserving verbal versus spatial representations. For multiplication, higher verbal WM ability is associated with greater recruitment of the left temporal cortex, identified by the verbal localizer. For multiplication and subtraction, higher spatial WM ability is associated with greater recruitment of right parietal cortex, identified by the spatial localizer. Depending on their WM ability, children engage different neural systems that manipulate different representations to solve arithmetic problems.
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Only trials in which the participant responded correctly were modeled, and this had only a small quantitative impact on the reported findings.
“In order to further reduce within scan variability in neural activity, only trials in which the participant responded correctly (hit and correct rejection) were modeled, with onset time-locked to the beginning of each trial (Calhoun et al., 2005; Demir et al., 2014; Hammer et al., 2015; Puschmann et al., 2013). This had only a small quantitative impact on the reported findings.”
From Functional neuroimaging of visuospatial working memory tasks enables accurate detection of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Demir et al., 2014
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- Authors
- Demir, Ö. E., Prado, J., & Booth, J. R.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Demir, Özlem Ece
- Venue
- Developmental Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-08-18
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 440-458
- ISSN
- 1532-6942 (ISSN-L)
- 8756-5641
- PMC
- PMC4142562
- OpenAlex
- W2171268638
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 3.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Developmental Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD059177, R01HD059177)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- verbal working memory, spatial working memory, arithmetic, multiplication, subtraction, left temporal cortex, right parietal cortex, elementary school students, mental representation
- MeSH terms
- Brain Mapping, Child, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Parietal Lobe, Psychological Tests, Space Perception, Temporal Lobe, Verbal Learning, Mathematical Concepts
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