Arithmetic skills may “remold” the brain, ZJU scientists find

A five-year scientific study has found that training in abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) does far more than sharpen math skills. It can fundamentally reshape the way children’s brains work, fostering the coordinated development of critical cognitive abilities.

The research, led by Zhejiang University in partnership with East China Normal University, Hong Kong Baptist University, and the University of Oldenburg in Germany, revealed a striking pattern: long-term, systematic AMC training appears to reverse the natural trend of children’s math ability and executive function to develop along separate pathways, instead bringing them back into closer integration.

In other words, AMC not only makes children faster at calculation, but it also reshapes cognitive structures and brain functions, thanks to the unique visuospatial strategies it teaches.  

Binding abilities, narrowing gaps

The team tracked 142 Chinese primary school students over five years, splitting them randomly into two groups. From Grade 1, the training group received about two hours of structured AMC lessons each week, while the control group followed the standard curriculum without AMC. Other than that, both groups’ schooling was identical.At the close of the study, behavioral assessments and brain scans painted a clear picture: in the AMC group, executive function and math ability were far more strongly linked than in the control group, suggesting that the training had “bound” these abilities together in the brain’s cognitive architecture.

Even more remarkably, students in the AMC group exhibited far less variation in their performance on both skills. In other words, the training didn’t just make them better. Instead, it made their abilities more consistent across the board.

Dedifferentiation between executive function and mathematical ability 
(X-axis: executive function score; Y-axis: math ability score; Pink: AMC Group; Green: Control Group)

Brain networks “overlap,” patterns “converge”

With parental consent, the team carried out safe, non-invasive MRI scans to explore what was happening inside the children’s brains. The results were striking: in the AMC group, neural connectivity patterns had undergone notable changes, particularly in regions tied to attentional control, task management, and internally focused thinking.

Even more intriguingly, the brain connectivity patterns of the AMC group, which were associated with children's executive function and mathematical ability, looked remarkably alike — a high degree of overlap, while the control group’s patterns remained more distinct. This neural convergence echoed the behavioral findings, reinforcing the idea that long-term AMC training strengthens the “shared circuitry” underpinning both skills.

Connectivity patterns related to executive function and mathematical ability and their within-group similarities 
(A/C: AMC Group; B/D: Control Group)

The researchers also found that, at rest, the connectivity patterns of frontoparietal regions in the AMC group’s brains were more alike across individuals than those in the control group. This similarity may well explain why their performance levels were more uniform.

Interestingly, within the AMC group, the more synchronized a child’s brain connectivity patterns were with those of their peers, the higher they scored in both executive function and math. This link didn’t appear in the control group, suggesting that AMC training fosters a kind of “collective brain pattern” — a neural signature associated with high-level cognitive ability.

A sculptor of the brain

This five-year AMC training program acted as a master sculptor, reshaping both brain and mind profoundly.

- It “fused” abilities: bringing executive functions and mathematical skills, which normally drift apart with age, into closer synergy, allowing them to develop in tandem.

- It “remodeled” the brain: building shared neural pathways to support both abilities at once, while harmonizing brain activity patterns — a hallmark of high-level cognitive abilities.

The work offers fresh insight into how AMC enhances cognition and highlights the brain’s extraordinary plasticity. It also points toward the exciting possibility of designing training programs that deliberately strengthen neural circuits to boost overall cognitive performance.

Adapted and translated from the article by SCHOOL OF PHYSICS, ZJU
Translator: FANG Fumin
Photos by the School of Physics, ZJU
Editor: HE Jiawen, ZHU Ziyu