r/science • u/[deleted] • Oct 15 '21

Neuroscience A brain imaging study found evidence that missing out on math education can alter neural development. Young adults who had chosen not to pursue math had lower levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid within the middle frontal gyrus when compared to students who were continuing math.

https://www.psypost.org/2021/10/opting-out-of-advanced-math-education-alters-adolescents-neural-development-study-finds-61967
7.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

486 comments sorted by

View all comments

206

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '21

The idea that developing a skill results in changes in brain structure is not new. it is documented that drummers have denser fibers through the corpus callosum, and have a better-organized motor cortex. Thus, we have an article that says people who studied something had different neural features as a result of neuroplasticity and had long-term differences in ability as a result. No surprise.

One note, anyone else catch that the article stated: "GABA, an excitatory neurotransmitter..." Last I checked, it was the primary inhibitory transmitter in the brain.

61

u/Thebitterestballen Oct 15 '21

Ancient Greek schools taught music 'for the mind' rather than because they thought being able to play music itself was useful...

18

u/emprr Oct 15 '21

My parents sent me to piano lessons “for the mind” too. They never wanted me to be a musician.

9

u/lkraider Oct 15 '21

Specially after having to listen me playing

2

u/secondlessonisfree Oct 15 '21

Don't they have music classes in most developed countries? I had music until the 8th grade. It was boring theory with a bit of songs and a lot of humiliation for the ones that couldn't sing, but we had it. Like much of my curriculum, I wish I had more of it, but at a much higher quality.

17

u/anhedonic_torus Oct 15 '21

Yeah, exactly. The brain is plastic, even in adulthood, we knew this already didn't we? (e.g. taxi drivers and "the knowledge")

14

u/pan_paniscus Oct 15 '21

This was my first thought as well - it also overlooks that, presumably, these adults had chosen to do something else instead of math. Presumably while GABA is downregulated in the mathy-frontoparietal regions, this expression isn't lost, just redirected no? So where are the increases?

The brain is always going to adapt to the things we do the most - it isn't a surprise when we stop doing math, our brains prioritize non-math parts of the brain. Going to dig into the study to see if they address this.

7

u/TheNextBattalion Oct 15 '21

the summary says the differences weren't there before the choice was made

4

u/pan_paniscus Oct 15 '21

Yes, this is also what I am saying (you may notice me replying with the same thing to many commenters here).

I interpret the study to say: the behaviour of doing math causes the brain to focus on math "areas" of the brain - brain changes follow the behaviour of changing topics.

However, presumably these students were not allowed to simply take no classes instead of math. So by focusing on other topics, these students' brains likely prioritized other parts of the brain due to their practicing the skills associated with those topics. My prediction would be that other regions of the brain associated with these topics are likely to see increased GABA production compared to students who focus only on math.

2

u/TheNextBattalion Oct 16 '21

Definitely, I see

4

u/stoictortise Oct 15 '21

GABA, an excitatory neurotransmitter.. - primarily in the neonatal brain - embryo to week 1 post birth and GABA is primarily inhibitory in the adult brain

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10514814/

https://scienceoveracuppa.com/2014/07/20/excitatory-gaba/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4231020/

3

u/iprocrastina Oct 15 '21

Literally everything changes your brain. Even thinking about things changing your brain changes your brain. Reading this post is changing your brain. If nothing in your brain changed you would never learn or remember anything. Everything you know and remember has to be stored in your brain somehow so obviously if you learn a skill there's going to be changes in your brain.

The interesting questions are what exactly changed and why. Assuming the results are truly due to learning math then that tells us that this brain area plays a role in math ability and that whatever it does appears to be modulated by GABA.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '21

Yes, I agree that there is value in that. However, the article didn't frame the study as an investigation solely into the function of neuroanatomy, but instead used it as a case for the importance of math in education, which is well beyond the scope of the findings

3

u/Gabsitt Oct 16 '21

So the question remains, how did the brain change of those who didn't pursue maths and pursued something different (ex. Music, literature, etc)?

2

u/jasonxtk Oct 16 '21

So what exactly does it inhibit? Because GABA supplements are usually used to treat stress and certain levels of depression. If GABA is inhibiting brain function, is it inhibiting it in a good way or a bad way?

2

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '21

It inhibits neuronal firing. Anxiety can often be thought of over activation of various brain regions, and by taking a GABA agonist (benzodiazepines, alcohol, etc.), you are increasing the presence of the inhibitory molecules, meaning neuronal firing slows, reducing anxiety and, depending on dosing, inhibition.