Popescu, T. , Sader, E. , Thomas, A. , Terhune, D. , Cohen Kadosh, K. , Dowker, A. & Cohen Kadosh, R.
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
Experience-dependent structural plasticity has been shown to exist as a result of training in various areas of expertise (e.g. playing a musical instrument, juggling or taxi driving), however few of these involved higher cognitive functions such as mathematical cognition. In this study, we investigated the long-term effects of maths training on brain structure. We examined mathematicians and non-mathematicians academics at the University of Oxford; both groups were matched in terms of age, gender and number of years spent in full-time education. All subjects were tested on a broad battery of cognitive abilities (such as IQ, numerical tasks, working memory and social skills), and were MRI scanned in order to examine any anatomical differences between the groups and any correlations between these differences and cognitive performance. The results indicated that mathematical expertise is associated with: 1) better performance also in tasks that are not purely mathematical; 2) an increase as well as a decrease in grey matter in several brain areas. The current results provide insight into one of the less studied areas of cognitive neuroscience - the neurocognitive mechanisms of exceptional mathematical abilities. At the other end of the spectrum, having a clearer picture of how brain structure changes as a result of long-term training in mathematics can also prove important in gaining a better understanding of dyscalculia, a specific learning disability that affects the normal acquisition of numerical skills.