EspañolNumeracy, like literacy, is created in the brain through the synergy of biology and experience.
Just as certain brain structures are designed through evolution for language, there are analogous structures for the quantitative sense.
And, also as with language, genetically-defined brain structures alone cannot support mathematics as they need to be co-ordinated with those supplementary neural circuits not specifically destined for this task but shaped by experience to do so.
Hence, the important role of education – whether in schools, at home, or in play; and hence, the valuable role for neuroscience in helping address this educational challenge.
Although the neuroscientific research on numeracy is still in its infancy, the field has already made significant progress in the past decade. It shows that even very simple numerical operations are distributed in different parts of the brain and require the co-ordination of multiple structures.
The mere representation of numbers involves a complex circuit that brings together sense of magnitude, and visual and verbal representations.
Calculation calls on other complex distributed networks, varying according to the operation in question: subtraction is critically dependent on the inferior parietal circuit, while addition and multiplication engage yet others.
Understanding the underlying developmental pathways to mathematics from a brain perspective can help shape the design of teaching strategies.
Different instructional methods lead to the creation of neural pathways that vary in effectiveness: drill learning, for instance, develops neural pathways that are less effective than those developed through strategy learning.
Support is growing from neuroscience for teaching strategies which involve learning in rich detail rather than the identification of correct/incorrect responses.
This is broadly consistent with formative assessment.Though the neural underpinnings of dyscalculia – the numerical equivalent of dyslexia – are still under-researched, the discovery of biological characteristics associated with specific mathematics impairments suggests that mathematics is far from a purely cultural construction: it requires the full functioning and integrity of specific brain structures.
It is likely that the deficient neural circuitry underlying dyscalculia can be addressed through targeted intervention because of the “plasticity” – the flexibility – of the neural circuitries involved in mathematics.
Just as certain brain structures are designed through evolution for language, there are analogous structures for the quantitative sense.
And, also as with language, genetically-defined brain structures alone cannot support mathematics as they need to be co-ordinated with those supplementary neural circuits not specifically destined for this task but shaped by experience to do so.
Hence, the important role of education – whether in schools, at home, or in play; and hence, the valuable role for neuroscience in helping address this educational challenge.
Although the neuroscientific research on numeracy is still in its infancy, the field has already made significant progress in the past decade. It shows that even very simple numerical operations are distributed in different parts of the brain and require the co-ordination of multiple structures.
The mere representation of numbers involves a complex circuit that brings together sense of magnitude, and visual and verbal representations.
Calculation calls on other complex distributed networks, varying according to the operation in question: subtraction is critically dependent on the inferior parietal circuit, while addition and multiplication engage yet others.
Understanding the underlying developmental pathways to mathematics from a brain perspective can help shape the design of teaching strategies.
Different instructional methods lead to the creation of neural pathways that vary in effectiveness: drill learning, for instance, develops neural pathways that are less effective than those developed through strategy learning.
Support is growing from neuroscience for teaching strategies which involve learning in rich detail rather than the identification of correct/incorrect responses.
This is broadly consistent with formative assessment.Though the neural underpinnings of dyscalculia – the numerical equivalent of dyslexia – are still under-researched, the discovery of biological characteristics associated with specific mathematics impairments suggests that mathematics is far from a purely cultural construction: it requires the full functioning and integrity of specific brain structures.
It is likely that the deficient neural circuitry underlying dyscalculia can be addressed through targeted intervention because of the “plasticity” – the flexibility – of the neural circuitries involved in mathematics.
"Understanding the Brain: The Birth of a Learning Science" 2007, page 16
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