Hemispheric Specialization for Processing Arithmetic in Adults

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Hemispheric Specialization for Processing Arithmetic in Adults Veronica Connaughton1*, Vicole Bothma2, Azhani Amiruddin2, Karen Clunies-Ross2, Noel French3 and Allison Fox4 1 Univeristy of Western Australia, School of Psychology, Australia 2 University of Western Australia, Australia 3 King Edward Memorial Hospital, Australia 4 University of Western Australia, School of Psychology, Australia A variety of current models of the cerebral circuits that underpin arithmetic calculation exist although research into cerebral lateralization of mathematical operations is in its initial stages. This study measured middle cerebral artery blood flow lateralization using Functional Transcranial Doppler (fTCD) ultrasonography during the performance of arithmetic tasks to test the triple-code model of numerical functioning. It was hypothesised that blood flow would be greater to the hemisphere responsible for language during multiplication tasks which depend on the retrieval of stored semantic knowledge, whereas bilateral activation would be more likely when adults performed subtraction. Thirteen adults, aged between 18 and 37 years, participated in a one-day cognitive and neuroimaging research program hosted at the Neurocognitive Development Unit. Laterality Indices were obtained whilst they performed an expressive language task and both multiplication and subtraction tasks. Blood flow during the expressive language and numerical calculation tasks showed statistically significant leftward lateralizations and the lateralization indices obtained during the mathematics tasks did not differ significantly from that obtained during the expressive language task (Cohen's d for repeated measures d = 0.160 and d = 0.290 for the multiplication and subtraction tasks, respectively). In partial support of the triple-code model, blood flow while performing multiplication operations was largest over the hemisphere corresponding to language generation. However, contrary to our expectations, blood flow was also significantly lateralised to the left hemisphere while participants performed subtraction. One plausible explanation for these results is that simple subtraction operations similarly draw on the semantic store. It is also possible that the response requirement for both tasks was a confounding factor and future research will attempt to control for this potential confound. Keywords: Arithmetic, subtraction, multiplication, fTCD, middle cerebral artery (MCA), Triple-Code Model Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Cognition and Executive Processes Citation: Connaughton V, Bothma V, Amiruddin A, Clunies-Ross K, French N and Fox A (2015). Hemispheric Specialization for Processing Arithmetic in Adults. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00128 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: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Ms. Veronica Connaughton, Univeristy of Western Australia, School of Psychology, Perth, Australia, 21104481@STUDENT.UWA.EDU.AU 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 Veronica Connaughton Vicole Bothma Azhani Amiruddin Karen Clunies-Ross Noel French Allison Fox Google Veronica Connaughton Vicole Bothma Azhani Amiruddin Karen Clunies-Ross Noel French Allison Fox Google Scholar Veronica Connaughton Vicole Bothma Azhani Amiruddin Karen Clunies-Ross Noel French Allison Fox PubMed Veronica Connaughton Vicole Bothma Azhani Amiruddin Karen Clunies-Ross Noel French Allison Fox 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.