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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 hinders children and adults in perceiving and processing numerical information efficiently and accurately. It has a negative effect on individual well-being and career success. Although we know that DD persists into adulthood, no evaluated support for young adults with DD exists.
In this project, we aim to fill this gap by developing and evaluating intervention units to improve numerical understanding in affected adolescents and adults. To evaluate the specific effects of the intervention, we will test the study participants behaviorally and by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and after completion of the intervention as well as after a waiting control period. We expect significant differences in brain function, morphometry and connectivity between adolescents/adults with and without DD. Further, we expect to see an improvement in numerical understanding and an adaptation on the neuronal network responsible for number processing after the intervention in affected individuals.
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 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)
