Mental load in the complex mental multiplication

Several studies in math cognition have identified areas of the brain that are involved in number processing (Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel, & Cohen, 2003) and complex problem solving (Anderson, 2007), and also found the arithmetic performance is highly correlated with working memory capacities (luculano, Moro, & Butterworth, 2011). Only a few research studied the relationship of the more complex arithmetic problem and brain activities. In the present study, we examined cortical activation as a function of different mental loads for mentally solving multi-digit multiplication problems. There are two types of problems in the experiment: 2-digit multiplied by 1-digit (2x1) and 4-digit multiplied by 1-digit (4x1); and two degree of mental digit loading: easy one and difficult one. It is 2 (types) x2 (degree of mental loading) within-subject design. The degree of mental loading is calculated from the highest digit loading of the school strategy (Rosenberg-Lee, Lovett, & Anderson, 2009). There are 100 trials in total. The participants took a rest after every 25 trials. The result showed that when the participants solved the problems had higher digit working memory demands in the mental multiplication, they produced greater activity in right frontal areas.