Deductive Reasoning and Math Learning Difficulty

Deductive Reasoning and Math Learning Difficulty: an fMRI Study in Children

Most studies to date that have examined the factors underlying math achievement in children have focused on basic numerical knowledge. Yet, math skills are clearly not limited to basic numerical knowledge and recent behavioral studies suggest a relationship between math and deductive reasoning skills. The goal of this study is to determine the neural mediators of this relationship using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The investigators will ask children from 8 to 14 to complete a standardized math achievement test, and measure their brain activity while they process deductive arguments. The investigators will then correlate brain activity during reasoning to individual math skills to identify the brain regions in which activity during reasoning is modulated by math skill.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: fMRI

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 137
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Bron, France, 69678
    • CH Le Vinatier

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 8 years to 14 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Girl or boy between 8 and 14
• Right-handed
• Affiliated to the French social security
• Whose parents gave informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Neurological disorders
• Psychiatric disorders
• Birth complications requiring admission into neonatal intensive care unit
• Medication affecting central nervous system processing
• Significant hearing impairment
• Uncorrected visual impairment
• Non-native French speaker
• Contraindications for MRI

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Brain activity during reasoning and measure of math skill	Other: fMRI; All participants are scanned while evaluating deductive reasoning problems. Their math skill is also assessed.; Other Names: fMRI scanning

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Correlation between brain activity during deductive reasoning and math skill 18 to 24 months later	Brain activity measured using fMRI and math skill measured using a standardized test 18 to 24 months after scanning	18 to 24 months after scanning

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hospices Civils de Lyon

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Schwartz F, Epinat-Duclos J, Leone J, Poisson A, Prado J. Neural representations of transitive relations predict current and future math calculation skills in children. Neuropsychologia. 2020 Apr;141:107410. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107410. Epub 2020 Feb 22.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 15, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 19, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): December 5, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 16, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 20, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): February 23, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 10, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 3, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 69HCL16_0686

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No