Longitudinal Brain Development of Numerical Skills in Typically Developing Children and Children with Developmental Dyscalculia

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Ursina McCaskey²  Ernst Martin²  Urs Maurer⁴  Karin Kucian⁶  Michael von Aster⁶  Ruth O'Gorman Tuura⁷ 

[1] Center for MR-Research, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, German Red Cross Hospitals, Berlin, Germany;Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong;Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;

关键词: brain development;    child;    developmental dyscalculia;    longitudinal;    number processing;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnhum.2017.00629

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a learning disability affecting the acquisition of numerical-arithmetical skills. Studies report persistent deficits in number processing and aberrant functional activation of the fronto-parietal numerical network in DD. However, the neural development of numerical abilities has been scarcely investigated. The present paper provides a first attempt to investigate behavioral and neural trajectories of numerical abilities longitudinally in typically developing (TD) and DD children. During a study period of 4 years, 28 children (8–11 years) were evaluated twice by means of neuropsychological tests and a numerical order fMRI paradigm. Over time, TD children improved in numerical abilities and showed a consistent and well-developed fronto-parietal network. In contrast, DD children revealed persistent deficits in number processing and arithmetic. Brain imaging results of the DD group showed an age-related activation increase in parietal regions (intraparietal sulcus), pointing to a delayed development of number processing areas. Besides, an activation increase in frontal areas was observed over time, indicating the use of compensatory mechanisms. In conclusion, results suggest a continuation in neural development of number representation in DD, whereas the neural network for simple ordinal number estimation seems to be stable or show only subtle changes in TD children over time.

【 授权许可】

Unknown