Brain, Digital, & Learning

 Open access, Peer Reviewed

Indexed in KCI

pISSN 2384-2474
eISSN 2586-7490

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Brain activation region analysis for children’s spatial ability: fNIRS Study

Korea National University of Education

Correspondence to ice9562kr@knue.ac.kr

Brain, Digital, & Learning. Volume 13, Number 4, 323–338, December 2023. https://doi.org/10.31216/BDL.20230020
Received on November 27, 2023, Revised on December 7, 2023, Accepted on December 8, 2023, Published on December 31, 2023.
Copyright © 2023. Institute of Brain based Education, Korea National University of Education This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study was analyzed using fNIRS to find out which brain regions were activated in elementary school students (1st-2nd) to solve spatial tasks. Spatial ability was based on mental rotation, spatial visualization, and spatial orientation, and the research results were as follows. First, in mental rotation, spatial visualization, and spatial orientation, the DLPFC was activated significantly higher, and the VLPFC was activated significantly lower. Second, OFC appeared only for spatial orienting, with significantly lower activation in both brain regions. Third, boys had significantly higher activation of many channels in the DLPFC and VLPFC, while girls had significantly lower activation of only one channel of the VLPFC. And in terms of brain activity differences between genders, boys showed higher activation in the DLPFC, FPPFC, and VLPFC than girls. The use of various brain regions in boys suggests the possibility of using more diverse strategies and seeking alternatives when solving new types of spatial tasks that are difficult or unfamiliar.
Keywords

Spatial ability, fNIRS, child, mental rotation, spatial visualization, spatial orientation

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