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The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks

Previous studies in the field of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training have shown that this training has the potential to enhance a wide variety of cognitive abilities. It can also generate specific changes in brain structure and function. However, there is lack of studies investigating the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Weng, Jian, Xie, Ye, Wang, Chunjie, Chen, Feiyan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5562922/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28821846
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08955-2
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author Weng, Jian
Xie, Ye
Wang, Chunjie
Chen, Feiyan
author_facet Weng, Jian
Xie, Ye
Wang, Chunjie
Chen, Feiyan
author_sort Weng, Jian
collection PubMed
description Previous studies in the field of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training have shown that this training has the potential to enhance a wide variety of cognitive abilities. It can also generate specific changes in brain structure and function. However, there is lack of studies investigating the impact of AMC training on the characteristics of brain networks. In this study, utilizing graph-based network analysis, we compared topological properties of brain functional networks between an AMC group and a matched control group. Relative to the control group, the AMC group exhibited higher nodal degrees in bilateral calcarine sulcus and increased local efficiency in bilateral superior occipital gyrus and right cuneus. The AMC group also showed higher nodal local efficiency in right fusiform gyrus, which was associated with better math ability. However, no relationship was significant in the control group. These findings provide evidence that long-term AMC training may improve information processing efficiency in visual-spatial related regions, which extend our understanding of training plasticity at the brain network level.
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spelling pubmed-55629222017-08-21 The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks Weng, Jian Xie, Ye Wang, Chunjie Chen, Feiyan Sci Rep Article Previous studies in the field of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training have shown that this training has the potential to enhance a wide variety of cognitive abilities. It can also generate specific changes in brain structure and function. However, there is lack of studies investigating the impact of AMC training on the characteristics of brain networks. In this study, utilizing graph-based network analysis, we compared topological properties of brain functional networks between an AMC group and a matched control group. Relative to the control group, the AMC group exhibited higher nodal degrees in bilateral calcarine sulcus and increased local efficiency in bilateral superior occipital gyrus and right cuneus. The AMC group also showed higher nodal local efficiency in right fusiform gyrus, which was associated with better math ability. However, no relationship was significant in the control group. These findings provide evidence that long-term AMC training may improve information processing efficiency in visual-spatial related regions, which extend our understanding of training plasticity at the brain network level. Nature Publishing Group UK 2017-08-18 /pmc/articles/PMC5562922/ /pubmed/28821846 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08955-2 Text en © The Author(s) 2017 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Article
Weng, Jian
Xie, Ye
Wang, Chunjie
Chen, Feiyan
The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks
title The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks
title_full The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks
title_fullStr The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks
title_full_unstemmed The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks
title_short The Effects of Long-term Abacus Training on Topological Properties of Brain Functional Networks
title_sort effects of long-term abacus training on topological properties of brain functional networks
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5562922/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28821846
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08955-2
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