Abstract
IntroductionDyscalculia is a specific learning disorder affecting the ability to learn certain math processes, such as arithmetic data recovery. The group of children with dyscalculia is very heterogeneous, in part due to variability in their working memory (WM) deficits. To assess the brain response to arithmetic data recovery, we applied an arithmetic verification task during an event-related potential (ERP) recording. Two effects have been reported: the N400 effect (higher negative amplitude for incongruent than for congruent condition), associated with arithmetic incongruency and caused by the arithmetic priming effect, and the LPC effect (higher positive amplitude for the incongruent compared to the congruent condition), associated with a reevaluation process and modulated by the plausibility of the presented condition. This study aimed to (a) compare arithmetic processing between children with dyscalculia and children with good academic performance (GAP) using ERPs during an addition verification task and (b) explore, among children with dyscalculia, the relationship between WM and ERP effects.Materials and MethodsEEGs of 22 children with dyscalculia (DYS group) and 22 children with GAP (GAP group) were recorded during the performance of an addition verification task. ERPs synchronized with the probe stimulus were computed separately for the congruent and incongruent probes, and included only epochs with correct answers. Mixed 2-way ANOVAs for response times and correct answers were conducted. Comparisons between groups and correlation analyses using ERP amplitude data were carried out through multivariate nonparametric permutation tests.ResultsThe GAP group obtained more correct answers than the DYS group. An arithmetic N400 effect was observed in the GAP group but not in the DYS group. Both groups displayed an LPC effect. The larger the LPC amplitude was, the higher the WM index. Two subgroups were found within the DYS group: one with an average WM index and the other with a lower than average WM index. These subgroups displayed different ERPs patterns.DiscussionThe results indicated that the group of children with dyscalculia was very heterogeneous and therefore failed to show a robust LPC effect. Some of these children had WM deficits. When WM deficits were considered together with dyscalculia, an atypical ERP pattern that reflected their processing difficulties emerged. Their lack of the arithmetic N400 effect suggested that the processing in this step was not useful enough to produce an answer; thus, it was necessary to reevaluate the arithmetic-calculation process (LPC) in order to deliver a correct answer.ConclusionGiven that dyscalculia is a very heterogeneous deficit, studies examining dyscalculia should consider exploring deficits in WM because the whole group of children with dyscalculia seems to contain at least two subpopulations that differ in their calculation process.
Highlights
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder affecting the ability to learn certain math processes, such as arithmetic data recovery
The findings for the frontal region coincide with the topography observed in some studies in young adults (Megías & Macizo, 2016; Prieto-Corona et al, 2010) and the left posterior localisation coincides with those found in other studies (Avancini, Galfano & Szűcs, 2014; Avancini, Soltész & Szűcs, 2015; Dickson & Federmeier, 2017). This more-distributed effect in children corresponds with the findings reported by Prieto-Corona et al (2010), who observed that the N400 effect in children involves more cortical regions than that in adults to perform the same task, and by Dong et al (2007), who compared younger and older children during the performance of arithmetic verification tasks
While exploring the relationship between working memory (WM) and arithmetic processing in the DYS group, we discovered that children with higher WM index scores showed a greater amplitude of the late positive component (LPC) effect in the right posterior region
Summary
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder affecting the ability to learn certain math processes, such as arithmetic data recovery. The group of children with dyscalculia is very heterogeneous, in part due to variability in their working memory (WM) deficits. This study aimed to (a) compare arithmetic processing between children with dyscalculia and children with good academic performance (GAP) using ERPs during an addition verification task and (b) explore, among children with dyscalculia, the relationship between WM and ERP effects. Discussion: The results indicated that the group of children with dyscalculia was very heterogeneous and failed to show a robust LPC effect. Some of these children had WM deficits. The central executive coordinates and monitors simultaneous processing and keeps track of math tasks that have already been performed
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