Neural correlates of solving arithmetic problems in adults

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted during the mental calculation of tasks involving basic arithmetic operations at three difficulty levels. During the solving of arithmetic problems involving subtraction, multiplication, and division at the easy level, brain activity was observed in the left inferior parietal lobule and left angular gyrus, which may reflect the memory retrieval from long-term memory. Additionally, activity was detected in the left inferior frontal gyrus during division, indicating using the procedural strategy. As the task difficulty increased, brain activity in the left inferior parietal lobule and left angular gyrus became bilateral and more intense, with additional involvement of structures such as the superior frontal gyrus, supplementary motor area, inferior middle and temporal gyri, as well as the cerebellum, indicating the need for increased neural resources to solve more difficult tasks. Bilateral activity was identified in the insular cortex during the solving of three-digit division tasks, which is associated with various affective and cognitive processes. Many areas underlie mathematical performance in adults which highlight the different systems involved in solving arithmetic problems of varying complexity. Despite similarities in brain activation patterns, behavioral results showed statistically significant differences between arithmetic operations. The results of the study add to existing knowledge on neuromaping of math cognition.