title: Long-distance neural synchrony correlates with processing strategies to compare fractions.
abstract: Adults use different processing strategies to work with fractions. Depending on task requirements, they may analyze the fraction components separately (componential processing strategy, CPS) or consider the fraction as a whole (holistic processing strategy, HPS). It is so far unknown what is the brain coordination dynamics underlying these types of fraction processing strategies. To elucidate this issue, we analyzed oscillatory brain activity during a fraction comparison task, presenting pairs of fractions either with or without common components. Results show that CPS induces a left frontal-parietal alpha phase desynchronization after the onset of fraction pairs, while HPS induces an increase of phase synchrony on theta and gamma bands, over frontal and central-parietal sites, respectively. Additionally, the HPS evokes more negative ERPs around 400 ms over the right frontal scalp than the CPS. This ERP activity correlates with the increase of Theta phase synchrony. Our results reveal the emergence of different functional neural networks depending on the kind of cognitive strategy used for processing fractions.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, CIAE, Universidad de Chile, 8330014 Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: paulo.barraza@ciae.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barraza
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, CIAE, Universidad de Chile, 8330014 Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: dgomez@ciae.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, CIAE, Universidad de Chile, 8330014 Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: felipe.oyarzun@ciae.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oyarzún
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación, CIAE, Universidad de Chile, 8330014 Santiago, Chile. Electronic address: dartnell@dim.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dartnell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D058256:Brain Waves; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition; D003344:Cortical Synchronization; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010507:Periodicity; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alpha band; EEG; Fraction processing; Gamma band; Neuronal synchrony; Theta band