Effect of abacus training on executive function development and underlying neural correlates in Chinese children

Autor: Chunjie Wang, Jian Weng, Yuqiu Liu, Yuan Yao, Shanshan Dong, Feiyan Chen
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Male
musculoskeletal diseases
China
medicine.medical_specialty
Brain activity and meditation
Psychology
Child
Neuropsychological Tests
Audiology
050105 experimental psychology
Developmental psychology
Executive Function
Random Allocation
03 medical and health sciences
Neural activity
0302 clinical medicine
Hum
medicine
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Radiology
Nuclear Medicine and imaging
Child
Set (psychology)
Problem Solving
Research Articles
Analysis of Variance
Brain Mapping
Neural correlates of consciousness
Schools
Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
05 social sciences
Brain
Cognition
Mathematical Concepts
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Mental calculation
Child development
Neurology
Practice
Psychological
Regression Analysis
Female
Neurology (clinical)
Anatomy
Psychology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Zdroj: Hum Brain Mapp
ISSN: 1097-0193
1065-9471
Popis: Executive function (EF) refers to a set of cognitive abilities involved in self‐regulated behavior. Given the critical role of EF in cognition, strategies for improving EF have attracted intensive attention in recent years. Previous studies have explored the effects of abacus‐based mental calculation (AMC) training on several cognitive abilities. However, it remains unclear whether AMC training affects EF and its neural correlates. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to AMC or control groups upon starting primary school. The AMC group received 2 h AMC training every week, while the control group did not have any abacus experience. Neural activity during an EF task was examined using functional MRI for both groups in their 4(th) and 6(th) grades. Our results showed that the AMC group performed better and faster than the control group in both grades. They also had lower activation in the frontoparietal reigons than the control group in the 6(th) grade. From the 4(th) to the 6(th) grade, the AMC group showed activation decreases in the frontoparietal regions, while the control group exhibited an opposite pattern. Furthermore, voxel‐wise regression analyses revealed that better performance was associated with lower task‐relevant brain activity in the AMC group but associated with greater task‐relevant brain activity in the control group. These results suggest that long‐term AMC training, with calculation ability as its original target, may improve EF and enhance neural efficiency of the frontoparietal regions during development. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5234–5249, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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