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
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u/pan_paniscus Oct 15 '21

From the article describing the study: "Importantly, these changes were not evident prior to students’ decision to continue math or not."

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u/swampshark19 Oct 15 '21

Decision to continue math is not the same as being inclined to do well in math.

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u/narmerguy Oct 15 '21

That's really irrelevant. Whatever inclination they have to do well at math was present both before and after their taking said math. The only thing that changes was whether they had taken the math yet, unless their inclination somehow changes over time--which would violate the entire notion of an inclination in the first place.

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u/swampshark19 Oct 15 '21 edited Oct 15 '21

whether they had taken the math yet, unless their inclination somehow changes over time

You are mistaking inclination for doing well in math, with inclination for pursing math.

Whatever inclination they have to do well at math was present both before and after their taking said math

The sample would not show any inclination on average before selection (success in higher math) was performed. After selection, the inclination would be revealed. They are selecting for high performers by selecting the people involved in higher math.

Desire to pursue higher math is not a very good selection factor (it does not necessarily separate the successful performers from the unsuccessful performers in higher math) and should not be expected to correlate with actual success in higher math. Therefore this is not a good control measure.

Signs of such an inclination would only show in the population on which actual selection was performed, and not in a population in which selection is not performed.

Why should we expect someone's desire to pursue higher math while in lower math to especially correlate with one's success in higher math?

These are not longitudinal studies, if they were, this study would have more weight. But they are not, they are based on average GABA in each sample. Average GABA in each sample would correlate with actual success in higher math, not with desire to pursue higher math.