AUTHOR=Lubin Amélie , Rossi Sandrine , Simon Gregory , Lanoë Céline , Leroux Gaëlle , Poirel Nicolas , Pineau Arlette , Houdé Olivier 

TITLE=Numerical Transcoding Proficiency in 10-Year-Old Schoolchildren is Associated with Gray Matter Inter-Individual Differences: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00197

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00197

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Are individual differences in numerical performance sustained by variations in gray matter volume in schoolchildren? To our knowledge, this challenging question for neuroeducation has not yet been investigated in typical development. We used the Voxel-Based Morphometry method to search for possible structural brain differences between two groups of 10-year-old schoolchildren (<italic>N</italic> = 22) whose performance differed only in numerical transcoding between analog and symbolic systems. The results indicated that children with low numerical proficiency have less gray matter volume in the parietal (particularly in the left intraparietal sulcus and the bilateral angular gyri) and occipito-temporal areas. All the identified regions have previously been shown to be functionally involved in transcoding between analog and symbolic numerical systems. Our data contribute to a better understanding of the intertwined relationships between mathematics learning and brain structure in healthy schoolchildren.</p>