Effects of Structured Block Play on Arithmetic Processing: An fMRI Study

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Abstract

Spatial processing plays an important role in mathematics. Games like block play and board games were found to improve spatial reasoning. We examined how spatial training via block play and board games impact arithmetic processing. Behavioral and fMRI data were assessed in a group of 7-year olds before and after a five day training paradigm. Addition and subtraction, and Tower of London (TOL) tasks were performed during fMRI. Only the block group showed improvements in TOL and subtraction performance. Subtraction brain activation results showed a larger difference between the two groups as a result of training. The results suggest that block play has a differential effect on subtraction, due to higher reliance of subtraction on spatial processing.

Authors

• Firat Soylu, The University of Alabama

• Arianna Gutierrez, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Mitchell Hansen, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Sharlene Newman, Indiana University - Bloomington