Event Abstract Back to Event Brain activation during single-digit addition and subtraction in 10-12-year-old children Bert De Smedt1, 2*, Ian D. Holloway1 and Daniel Ansari1 1 University of Western Ontario, Numerical Cognition Laboratory, Canada 2 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Parenting, Child Welfare and Disabilities, Belgium In recent years, there has been a growing interest in examining the neural correlates of mathematical abilities and disabilities in children. Most of these studies have focused on elementary number processing skills, like number comparison, but surprisingly few studies have been carried out on the brain processes underlying arithmetic in children. This is in sharp contrast with adult research, wherein both number processing and arithmetic have been extensively investigated. The present study therefore aimed to provide an in-depth characterization of the neural correlates of single-digit arithmetic in typically developing children. Because arithmetic represents a major part of the curriculum at school, this characterization will provide a new avenue for building stronger relationships between mathematics education and cognitive neuroscience. Participants were 18 typically developing children in the higher grades of primary school (10-12 year-olds). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain activation during arithmetic performance. Imaging data were acquired by means of an event-related design. During scanning, all children completed a single-digit arithmetic task, in which they had to select the correct answer to an arithmetic problem. The administered problems systematically differed in terms of problem size (small vs. large) and operation (addition vs. subtraction). Findings revealed that small problems and additions activated the left hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, possibly indicating the larger involvement of memory retrieval processes in those problem types. Large problems and subtractions activated the intraparietal sulci, pointing to a larger the influence of quantity-based procedural strategies in those problem types. Conference: EARLI SIG22 - Neuroscience and Education, Zurich, Switzerland, 3 Jun - 5 Jun, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Arithmetic and higher-order mathematics Citation: De Smedt B, Holloway ID and Ansari D (2010). Brain activation during single-digit addition and subtraction in 10-12-year-old children. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: EARLI SIG22 - Neuroscience and Education. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.11.00037 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: Bert De Smedt, University of Western Ontario, Numerical Cognition Laboratory, London, Canada, Bert.DeSmedt@ppw.kuleuven.be 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 Bert De Smedt Ian D Holloway Daniel Ansari Google Bert De Smedt Ian D Holloway Daniel Ansari Google Scholar Bert De Smedt Ian D Holloway Daniel Ansari PubMed Bert De Smedt Ian D Holloway Daniel Ansari 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.