Differences in brain activity are linked to difficulties using and adapting math problem-solving strategies in children with developmental dyscalculia.
Choosing how to tackle a math problem can be a challenge of its own for children with developmental dyscalculia, a condition marked by persistent difficulty with math problem-solving.
A Stanford University study connects these struggles with differences in brain activity, offering clues to the processes behind a condition that remains poorly understood.
Brain activity predicts math strategy performance
Oliver Lasnick and colleagues studied problem-solving strategies and brain activity in a cohort of 68 children ages 8 to 10. Reporting in JNeurosci, they found that activity in a brain system differed between children with developmental dyscalculia and children who were more proficient at using math strategies. That activity could also predict how well children counted and switched between approaches.
Children with dyscalculia took longer to switch strategies and were less sensitive to changes in problem difficulty. They also used a variety of strategies less efficiently than other children and did not improve at selecting the most suitable approach over time.
The possible cognitive roots of dyscalculia
The researchers suggest that persistent difficulties using problem-solving strategies and controlling attention, thinking, and memory may contribute to the onset of developmental dyscalculia. They also identify altered brain activity as a possible driver of these behaviors.
Lasnick said, “Importantly, this study also emphasizes the individual variability observed in dyscalculia, further demonstrating that the disorder reflects cognitive and neural dysfunction across multiple processes.”
Reference: “Uncovering latent cognitive, metacognitive, and neural bases of problem-solving deficits in children with developmental dyscalculia” by O.H.M. Lasnick, Yunji Park, Percy Mistry and Vinod Menon, 20 September 2026, Journal of Neuroscience.
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2200-25.2026
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