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

George Zacharopoulos, Francesco Sella, Roi Cohen Kadosh

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume: 118, Issue: 24, Start page: e2013155118

Swansea University Author: George Zacharopoulos

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DOI (Published version): 10.1073/pnas.2013155118

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...

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Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
ISSN: 0027-8424 1091-6490
Published: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58270
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first_indexed 2021-10-08T10:46:34Z
last_indexed 2023-01-11T14:38:45Z
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spelling 2022-11-29T14:44:09.2765422 v2 58270 2021-10-08 The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment 7abcfe5e6fd29d20e2c53eff9a4098d1 George Zacharopoulos George Zacharopoulos true false 2021-10-08 HPS 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 mathematical education ceased. Furthermore, we showed that MFG GABA not only classifies whether an adolescent is studying math or not, but it also predicts the changes in mathematical reasoning ∼19 mo later. The present results extend previous work in animals that has emphasized the role of GABA neurotransmission in synaptic and network plasticity and highlight the effect of a specific lack of education on MFG GABA concentration and learning-dependent plasticity. Our findings reveal the reciprocal effect between brain development and education and demonstrate the negative consequences of a specific lack of education during adolescence on brain plasticity and cognitive functions. Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118 24 e2013155118 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 0027-8424 1091-6490 mathematical education; GABA; plasticity; middle frontal gyrus 15 6 2021 2021-06-15 10.1073/pnas.2013155118 COLLEGE NANME Psychology COLLEGE CODE HPS Swansea University European Research Council (Learning&Achievement Grant 338065) 2022-11-29T14:44:09.2765422 2021-10-08T11:44:12.8557488 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology George Zacharopoulos 1 Francesco Sella 2 Roi Cohen Kadosh 3 58270__21367__56260ca7027e4134bc8656bf14a7e3f6.pdf 58270.pdf 2021-10-29T12:05:13.5333069 Output 993788 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2021 the Author(s). This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY) true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment
spellingShingle The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment
George Zacharopoulos
title_short The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment
title_full The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment
title_fullStr The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment
title_full_unstemmed The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment
title_sort The impact of a lack of mathematical education on brain development and future attainment
author_id_str_mv 7abcfe5e6fd29d20e2c53eff9a4098d1
author_id_fullname_str_mv 7abcfe5e6fd29d20e2c53eff9a4098d1_***_George Zacharopoulos
author George Zacharopoulos
author2 George Zacharopoulos
Francesco Sella
Roi Cohen Kadosh
format Journal article
container_title Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
container_volume 118
container_issue 24
container_start_page e2013155118
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 0027-8424
1091-6490
doi_str_mv 10.1073/pnas.2013155118
publisher Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description 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 mathematical education ceased. Furthermore, we showed that MFG GABA not only classifies whether an adolescent is studying math or not, but it also predicts the changes in mathematical reasoning ∼19 mo later. The present results extend previous work in animals that has emphasized the role of GABA neurotransmission in synaptic and network plasticity and highlight the effect of a specific lack of education on MFG GABA concentration and learning-dependent plasticity. Our findings reveal the reciprocal effect between brain development and education and demonstrate the negative consequences of a specific lack of education during adolescence on brain plasticity and cognitive functions.
published_date 2021-06-15T04:14:40Z
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score 11.037581

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