About this Research Topic
Numbers are omnipresent in our daily life. Educational and vocational but also general life prospects are considered to be associated substantially with the ability to appropriately deal with and handle numbers. In turn, according deficits in numerical competences can entail both considerable personal handicaps as well as socio-economic costs. Therefore, research on the neuro-cognitive underpinnings and predictors of numerical cognition and its development is highly relevant both on a personal as well as a societal level.
Against this background, numerical cognition research made considerable progress in describing and understanding cognitive processes but also the neural architecture underlying numerical cognition in more and more detail in recent years. For instance, basic numerical competences (e.g., understanding number magnitude, etc.) seem to serve as building blocks for later numerical and arithmetic achievement and, thus, deserve specific interest and promotion when investigating and fostering numerical development. At the same time, there are first training studies, which allow to identify changes on the neuro-functional but also neuro-structural level associated with numerical learning and development. Finally, brain lesions in neuropsychological patients were observed to elicit specific deficits in basic numerical competences but also allowed to investigate potential reorganization to compensate.
This Research Topic aims at collating a rich collection of articles tackling the issue of numerical learning and its neural correlates. We are interested in all aspects of numerical cognition and numerical development with findings from: behavioral to neuro-cognitive studies (considering neuro-functional and neuro-structural evidence), cross-sectional to longitudinal and intervention studies, typical to atypical development and clinical populations. Manuscripts submitted to this Research Topic should have a strong focus on the neuro-cognitive architecture underlying numerical learning and development.
Additionally, we will also consider contributions of a more interdisciplinary nature, such as those addressing the topic of numerical learning and development from a psychology, educational science, math education, and linguistics perspective. By bringing together the expertise of researchers from different backgrounds we aim at advancing a comprehensive Research Topic with both scientific and every-day relevance. To this end, we encourage empirical contributions using different experimental methodologies but also welcome theoretical contributions, (mini)-review articles, as well as opinion papers and commentaries.
Against this background, numerical cognition research made considerable progress in describing and understanding cognitive processes but also the neural architecture underlying numerical cognition in more and more detail in recent years. For instance, basic numerical competences (e.g., understanding number magnitude, etc.) seem to serve as building blocks for later numerical and arithmetic achievement and, thus, deserve specific interest and promotion when investigating and fostering numerical development. At the same time, there are first training studies, which allow to identify changes on the neuro-functional but also neuro-structural level associated with numerical learning and development. Finally, brain lesions in neuropsychological patients were observed to elicit specific deficits in basic numerical competences but also allowed to investigate potential reorganization to compensate.
This Research Topic aims at collating a rich collection of articles tackling the issue of numerical learning and its neural correlates. We are interested in all aspects of numerical cognition and numerical development with findings from: behavioral to neuro-cognitive studies (considering neuro-functional and neuro-structural evidence), cross-sectional to longitudinal and intervention studies, typical to atypical development and clinical populations. Manuscripts submitted to this Research Topic should have a strong focus on the neuro-cognitive architecture underlying numerical learning and development.
Additionally, we will also consider contributions of a more interdisciplinary nature, such as those addressing the topic of numerical learning and development from a psychology, educational science, math education, and linguistics perspective. By bringing together the expertise of researchers from different backgrounds we aim at advancing a comprehensive Research Topic with both scientific and every-day relevance. To this end, we encourage empirical contributions using different experimental methodologies but also welcome theoretical contributions, (mini)-review articles, as well as opinion papers and commentaries.
Keywords: numerical cognition, numerical development, number processing, neural correlates, neuro-cognitive plasticity
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
