Abacus-based Mental Calculation And Its Training Effects On Brain Development In Children

The aim of this study was to investigate the neural mechanism of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC), and examine the effects of long-term AMC training on cerebral plasticity in children. Multi-mode magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques were applied to different samples of children about 11 years old. In functional MRI experiment, the frontoparietal system and cerebellum were found involving in the numeric task in AMC children, while inferior parietal and language-related area in controls. In voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis, AMC children demonstrated both increased and decreased cerebral volume when comparing to the controls, within fMRI activation maps in AMC and control groups, respectively. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis revealed enhanced white matter myelination in the frontoparietal system in the AMC group, which emphasized the role of this system in AMC. Combining results of multi-mode experiments, we proposed an AMC model consisting of five subsystems, including 1) visual representation, associated with bilateral fusiform,2) verbal representation and operation, associated with bilateral angular and left inferior parietal areas,3) abacus representation and operation, associated with bilateral superior parietal cortex, premotor and right supplementary motor areas,4) quantity representation, associated with bilateral superior parietal sulcus, and 5) output, associated with inferior frontal and precentral gyrus. Further analysis of the frontoparietal system indicated that abacus representation for number is more related to bilateral superior parietal cortex, and mental abacus operation is more related to right supplementary and bilateral premotor areas. More involvement of visuospatial neural resources in AMC may accelerate the development of the frontoparietal system in AMC children, but relatively slow the development in the inferior parietal cortex when comparing to control children, who have more verbal processing engaged in the numeric task. The innovative point of the present study is the combination of multi-mode MRIs, which give insights into the AMC from different points of view, and lead to more reliable conclusions. The Theory of Use and Disuse may be a plausible mechanism for the effects of training on cerebral plasticity. The present study offered quantitative effects of AMC training which advance our understanding to both AMC and ordinary mental calculation. Meanwhile, this work has many new implications for neuroeducation, and for both brain health and mental diseases.