White
matter in brain helps you add and multiply better
If you
have problems adding and multiplying numbers, your white matter is to blame! A
new study has found that 12-year-olds who score well in addition and
multiplication have higher-quality white matter tracts. However, this
correlation does not appear to apply to subtraction and division, researchers
found said.
‘Grey’
cells process information in the brain and are connected via neutral pathways,
the tracts through which signals are transferred. Neural pathways are
comparable to a bundle of cables. These cables are surrounded by an isolating
sheath: myelin, or ‘white matter’. The thicker the isolating sheath and the
more cables there are, the more white matter, the faster the signals are
transferred, said educational neuroscientist Bert de Smedt, Faculty of
Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven in Belgium.
While
the correlation between arithmetic and the white matter tracts linking certain
brain regions is known, very little research has been done to test this is
correlation in normally-developing children.
In the
new study, researchers had 25 children solve a series of different arithmetic
operations while undergoing a brain scan. They then compared the quality of the
children’s white matter with their arithmetic test performance.
“We found that a better quality of the arcuate fasciculus
anterior—a white matter tract that connects brain regions often used for
arithmetic—corresponds to better performance in adding and multiplying, while
there is no correlation for subtracting and dividing,”
said de Smedt.
“A possible explanation for this is that this white matter
bundle is involved in rote memorisation, whereas when we subtract and divide,
such memorisation plays less of a role.”
“When subtracting and dividing we are more likely to use
intermediary steps to calculate the solution, even as adults,” he added.”
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