Overview
The purpose of this study is to investigate neurocognitive mechanisms underlying response to intervention aimed at enhancing, and remediating weaknesses in, numerical skills in children, including those with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD).
Description
The purpose of this study is to investigate neurocognitive mechanisms underlying response to intervention aimed at enhancing, and remediating weaknesses in, numerical skills in children, including those with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD).
To achieve this goal, investigators will use a theoretically-motivated integrated symbolic/non-symbolic (iSNS) intervention with a randomized controlled design to enhance cross-format mapping between symbolic and nonsymbolic representations of quantities. The investigators will develop innovative computational models to investigate individual differences in latent cognitive processes and brain plasticity that contribute to learning, long-term retention, and transfer in children.
The investigators will assess performance in several areas and investigate cognitive and neural mechanisms that support numerical skill acquisition in children with differing levels of math learning abilities.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Elementary school aged children starting from first grade (6-12 years old)
- IQ: Participants with a Full Scale IQ > 70 on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II).
- Identification of Mathematical Learning Disabilities: Scores below the 25-35th percentile percentile on symbolic number processing test in Numeracy Screener and two or more Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-IV) math subtests
- Identification of typically developing children: Scores at or above the 25-35th percentile percentile on symbolic number processing test in Numeracy Screener and all WIAT-IV math subtests
- Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and no hearing impairments
- Inclusion in MRI scan session: Right-handed
Exclusion Criteria:
- History of neurological or psychiatric disorder (i.e., schizophrenia, psychosis, depression, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.)
- History of trauma involving head injury
- Consistent psychiatric medications
- Exclusion from MRI scan session: No major contraindication for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - braces, metal implants, pacemakers, vascular stents, metallic ear tubes, consistent exposure to metal, claustrophobia)