“Rescue calcularis” - A mental number line training for children with developmental dyscalculia

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event “Rescue calcularis” - A mental number line training for children with developmental dyscalculia Karin Kucian1*, Ursina Grond1, Stephanie Rotzer1, Claudia Schönmann1, Barbara Henzi1, Ernst Martin1 and Michael Von Aster1 1 University Childrens Hospital Zurich, MR-Center, Switzerland Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a specific learning disability that affects the acquisition of mathematical skills in children with normal intelligence and age-appropriate school education (prevalence 3-6%). One essential step in the development of mathematical understanding is the formation and automated access to a spatial representation of numbers. Many children with DD show a deficient development of such a mental number line. The present study aimed to develop a computer-based training program to improve the construction and access to the mental number line. Twenty children with DD aged 8-10 years and 16 matched control children completed the five weeks computer training “Rescue Calcularis”. The efficiency of “Rescue Calcularis” has been evaluated by means of neuropsychological tests and functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after training. In general, children with and without DD could benefit from the training and yielded comparable results. In both groups, behavioural results showed a significant improvement in ranking numerical magnitudes on a number line reflecting better spatial representation of numerosity. After five weeks of training a general decrease mainly in frontal regions has been observed, which suggests reduced working memory and attentional needs. Moreover, control children showed increased brain activation after the training in the left angular gyrus – a region typically activated during automated processing. In children with DD a delayed increase of parietal activation could be found five weeks after finishing the training pointing to an improved neural representation of the mental number line after a short consolidation phase. In conclusion, the training program “Rescue Calcularis” improves the spatial representation of numbers which goes along with plastic changes in relevant neuronal networks and with arithmetical performance, as well. Conference: EARLI SIG22 - Neuroscience and Education, Zurich, Switzerland, 3 Jun - 5 Jun, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Number processing Citation: Kucian K, Grond U, Rotzer S, Schönmann C, Henzi B, Martin E and Von Aster M (2010). “Rescue calcularis” - A mental number line training for children with developmental dyscalculia. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: EARLI SIG22 - Neuroscience and Education. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.11.00055 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 31 May 2010; Published Online: 31 May 2010. * Correspondence: Karin Kucian, University Childrens Hospital Zurich, MR-Center, Zurich, Switzerland, karin.kucian@kispi.uzh.ch Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Karin Kucian Ursina Grond Stephanie Rotzer Claudia Schönmann Barbara Henzi Ernst Martin Michael Von Aster Google Karin Kucian Ursina Grond Stephanie Rotzer Claudia Schönmann Barbara Henzi Ernst Martin Michael Von Aster Google Scholar Karin Kucian Ursina Grond Stephanie Rotzer Claudia Schönmann Barbara Henzi Ernst Martin Michael Von Aster PubMed Karin Kucian Ursina Grond Stephanie Rotzer Claudia Schönmann Barbara Henzi Ernst Martin Michael Von Aster Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.