Mental abacus training affects high-level executive functions: Comparison of activation of the frontal pole

Nobuki Watanabe

doi:10.29333/iejme/13220

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Nobuki Watanabe ¹ ^*

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¹ School of Education, Kwansei Gakuin University, Hyogo, JAPAN^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The role of executive function training in supporting child development has been increasingly studied. Executive function is largely related to the prefrontal cortex. The anterior portion of the prefrontal cortex, which is area 10 on the Brodmann map, is essential for the emergence of higher-order executive functions. Accumulating evidence indicates that mental abacus training, which is closely related to mathematics education, activates the prefrontal cortex. Based on these findings, it can be hypothesized that the mental abacus is valuable for training more advanced functions. Therefore, this study analyzed the activation of children’s brains with a focus on the frontal pole (Brodmann area 10). The results illustrated that mental abacus task more strongly activated the brain than piano task, the marshmallow test, or letter–number sequencing tasks. Thus, it was suggested that the mental abacus is valuable for training higher-level executive functions (i.e., frontal pole).

Keywords

mental abacus
frontal pole
functional near-infrared spectroscopy
executive function

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INT ELECT J MATH ED, Volume 18, Issue 3, August 2023, Article No: em0742

https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/13220

Publication date: 01 Jul 2023

Online publication date: 26 Apr 2023

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APA

Watanabe, N. (2023). Mental abacus training affects high-level executive functions: Comparison of activation of the frontal pole. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 18(3), em0742. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/13220

Vancouver

Watanabe N. Mental abacus training affects high-level executive functions: Comparison of activation of the frontal pole. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2023;18(3):em0742. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/13220

AMA

Watanabe N. Mental abacus training affects high-level executive functions: Comparison of activation of the frontal pole. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2023;18(3), em0742. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/13220

Chicago

Watanabe, Nobuki. "Mental abacus training affects high-level executive functions: Comparison of activation of the frontal pole". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2023 18 no. 3 (2023): em0742. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/13220

Harvard

Watanabe, N. (2023). Mental abacus training affects high-level executive functions: Comparison of activation of the frontal pole. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 18(3), em0742. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/13220

MLA

Watanabe, Nobuki "Mental abacus training affects high-level executive functions: Comparison of activation of the frontal pole". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, vol. 18, no. 3, 2023, em0742. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/13220