The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment.

ABSTRACT: Formal education has a long-term impact on an individual's life. However, our knowledge of the effect of a specific lack of education, such as in mathematics, is currently poor but is highly relevant given the extant differences between countries in their educational curricula and the differences in opportunities to access education. Here we examined whether neurotransmitter concentrations in the adolescent brain could classify whether a student is lacking mathematical education. Decreased γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration within the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) successfully classified whether an adolescent studies math and was negatively associated with frontoparietal connectivity. In a second experiment, we uncovered that our findings were not due to preexisting differences before a

SUBMITTER: Zacharopoulos G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8214709 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature