Development of common neural representations for distinct numerical problems.

ABSTRACT: How the brain develops representations for abstract cognitive problems is a major unaddressed question in neuroscience. Here we tackle this fundamental question using arithmetic problem solving, a cognitive domain important for the development of mathematical reasoning. We first examined whether adults demonstrate common neural representations for addition and subtraction problems, two complementary arithmetic operations that manipulate the same quantities. We then examined how the common neural representations for the two problem types change with development. Whole-brain multivoxel representational similarity (MRS) analysis was conducted to examine common coding of addition and subtraction problems in children and adults. We found that adults exhibited significant levels of MRS between t

SUBMITTER: Chang TT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4704861 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature