How interindividual differences in brain anatomy shape mathematical abilities

A specific region of the brain, the intra-parietal sulcus (IPS) has reliably been shown, through studies using a variety of methodologies (brain injury, developmental abnormality and neuro-imaging studies), to be a crucial substrate for mathematical competence (Brannon, 2006; Bugden, Price, McLean, & Ansari, 2012; Dehaene, 2004; Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel, & Cohen, 2003; Holloway & Ansari, 2010; Kaufmann, Wood, Rubinsten, & Henik, 2011; Piazza, Pinel, Le Bihan, & Dehaene, 2007). Whilst most research has focused on the brain regions supporting numerical processing, few studies have examined the influence of intra-individual differences in neuro-anatomy on mathematical competence.
Using anatomical MRI we shall investigate whether the sulcal pattern of the IPS, a brain feature determined in utero and stable after birth (Cachia et al., 2016; Chi, Dooling, & Gilles, 1977; Mangin, Jouvent, & Cachia, 2010; Sun et al., 2012), was associated with mathematical competence. TO BE CON’T

Faculty Supervisor:

Daniel Ansari

Student:

Partner:

Université Paris Cité

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Western University

Program: