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Do you have any mathematical abilities? A new study shows that levels of two key neurotransmitters can predict a person's mathematical abilities, suggesting that brain chemistry may play a role for those who find math easy.

The new study involved 255 subjects, from six-year-old schoolchildren to university students. The study focused on two neurotransmitters that are known to play a role in brain plasticity and learning – glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Based on previous studies, the focus was on two areas of the brain associated with mathematical abilities – the left intra-parietal sulcus (IPS) and the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG).

The results were strikingly contradictory. In the youngest subjects, high levels of GABA and low levels of glutamate in IPS were consistently associated with high mathematical skills.

But in the older university cohort, the exact opposite was observed; low levels of GABA and high levels of glutamate were associated with strong mathematical abilities. The levels of both neurotransmitters in MFG are not associated with mathematical skills.

The cohort was tested twice over the course of 18 months, which allowed the researchers to see if these levels of neurotransmitters could predict mathematical abilities in the future. And it worked, because neurotransmitter levels effectively predicted success on math tests completed after a year and a half.

At this stage, the reasons for these differences in the brain chemistry of older and younger students are unclear. The researchers suggest that " concentrations of GABA and glutamate increase or limit the plasticity of a given cognitive function, depending on the sensitive period of this cognitive function."

Thus, it is possible that a high level of GABA can improve the mathematical abilities of young children during a critical period of brain development, while a similarly high level of GABA can impair the same mathematical skills later in life.

Roy Kadosh, one of the researchers working on the project, says that the discovery of this developmental switch indicates an unknown shift in brain plasticity that occurs at some point in adolescence.

"Our discovery of developmental switches in the relationship between GABA and glutamate and academic achievement highlights a common, unknown principle of plasticity," says Roy Kadosh. "Unlike previous studies in humans or animals that focused on narrower developmental stages, our cross-longitudinal study suggests that the relationship between plasticity and brain arousal and inhibition at different stages is unlikely to be unchanged."

Another recent study by the same group specifically examined the levels of GABA in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in children aged 14 to 18 years. This study showed that MFG levels can effectively predict whether a student is successfully mastering mathematics or not.

Further research will help to find out whether certain educational activities can help children who are less interested in mathematics, so that these areas of the brain still receive the developmental training they need.

"Not every teenager likes mathematics, so we need to explore possible alternatives, such as teaching logic and reasoning, which affect the same area of the brain as mathematics," says Roy Kadosh.

The new study was published in the journal PLOS Biology

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