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In collaboration with the Institute of Education at the University of Zurich, we are developing a training program to improve numerical understanding in adolescents and adults with dyscalculia, a developmental disorder that affects math skills. We will test the effectiveness of the training program by means of behavioral tests. In addition, we will measure brain activity by MRI before and after training to investigate if the intervention has an effect on the brain.
Research project ongoing. Do you wish to participate? See our information below and on the project website.
Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a specific neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs the ability of children and adults to perceive and process numerical information efficiently and accurately. It negatively impacts individual well-being and career success. While it is well established that DD persists into adulthood, there is currently no evaluated support available for young adults with DD.
This project aims to address this gap by developing and evaluating intervention units designed to improve numerical understanding in affected adolescents and adults. Our collaboration partners at the Institute of Education at UZH have successfully developed the intervention. Additionally, to enable participants to train independently at home between in-person intervention sessions, we have developed an app that allows them to practice remotely on their mobile phones or tablets.
To assess the specific effects of the intervention, we are currently conducting behavioral and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessments on study participants with DD and typically developing controls before and after the intervention, as well as after a waiting control period.
Once data collection is complete, we expect to observe significant differences in brain function, morphometry, and connectivity between adolescents and adults with and without DD. Furthermore, we anticipate an improvement in numerical understanding and adaptations in the neuronal network responsible for number processing in affected individuals following the intervention.
We are currently looking for participants between 14 and 27 years of age with dyscalculia (see flyer (PDF, 265 KB), in German), who will participate in the support program and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements, as well as participants without dyscalculia (see flyer (PDF, 600 KB), in German), participating in MRI and behavioural measurements only. For more information see the project website and for participation please contact us via email.
AdaBD Principal investigators: Karin Kucian, Christian Ruff, Silvia Brem
PhD Student: Caroline Biegel
External investigators: Elisabeth Moser Opitz, Franziska Felder, Sascha Schneider (Institute of Education, UZH); Text Crunching Center of the Department for Computer Linguistics, UZH
University of Zurich, Institute of Education, project SMILE (in German)
University Children's Hospital Zurich, Dyscalculia research (in German)
