title: Mathematically gifted adolescents use more extensive and more bilateral areas of the fronto-parietal network than controls during executive functioning and fluid reasoning tasks.
abstract: The main goal of this study was to investigate the neural substrates of fluid reasoning and visuospatial working memory in adolescents with precocious mathematical ability. The study population comprised two groups of adolescents: 13 math-gifted adolescents and 14 controls with average mathematical skills. Patterns of activation specific to reasoning tasks in math-gifted subjects were examined using functional magnetic resonance images acquired while the subjects were performing Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and the Tower of London (TOL) tasks. During the tasks, both groups showed significant activations in the frontoparietal network. In the math-gifted group, clusters of activation were always bilateral and more regions were recruited, especially in the right hemisphere. In the TOL task, math-gifted adolescents showed significant hyper-activations relative to controls in the precuneus, superior occipital lobe (BA 19), and medial temporal lobe (BA 39). The maximum differences between the groups were detected during RAPM tasks at the highest level of difficulty, where math-gifted subjects showed significant activations relative to controls in the right inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), anterior cingulated gyrus (BA 32), and frontal (BA 9, and BA 6) areas. Our results support the hypothesis that greater ability for complex mathematical reasoning may be related to more bilateral patterns of activation and that increased activation in the parietal and frontal regions of math-gifted adolescents is associated with enhanced skills in visuospatial processing and logical reasoning.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering, University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Dept. of Experimental Surgery and Medicine, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desco
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Dept. of Experimental Surgery and Medicine, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jnavas@mce.hggm.es.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Navas-Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Experimental Surgery and Medicine, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain; Philips Healthcare, Clinical Science, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanchez-González
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Dept. of Experimental Surgery and Medicine, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reig
authors.affiliation: Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Dept. of Psychiatry, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Referencia Estatal de Atención al Daño Cerebral (CEADAC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Olalla
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.affiliation: Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Dept. of Psychiatry, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Diagnostic Radiology Dept, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Guzmán-De-Villoria
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Dept. of Experimental Surgery and Medicine, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain; Spanish Royal Academy of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: García-Barreno
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain; Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Dept. of Psychiatry, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Celso
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arango
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D002672:Child, Gifted; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*