Adolescents Who Stop Taking Math Classes Experience Decrease In Important Brain Chemical.

 

I was off looking up brain development when I came across this article published in Science News.  The study was published on June 7, 2021 and was done by scientists at the University of Oxford. What they concluded was that young folks who quit taking math experience a decrease in production of a brain chemical that is important to their brain development. The decrease of this brain chemical occurred in the part of the brain that does math, problem solving, memory, and reasoning.

This means that teens who decided to quit taking math at the age of 16, ended up at a greater disadvantage in both their brain and cognitive development when compared with those who continued to take math classes.  When all students were taking math classes, scientists discovered they all had about the same amount of gamma Amniobutyric acid which is needed for brain plasticity.  However, when scientists tested students later after some quit taking math, they were able to tell who still was in a math class based on the levels of this brain chemical regardless of cognitive abilities.

It is well known that the brain undergoes important brain and cognitive changes during adolescence. When students quit studying math, they loose a certain amount of ground in world where math is associated with everything from employment, to socioeconomic status, to mental and physical health.  This study shows a link between the biology of the brain and education.

One of the researchers mentioned that they don't know if this can be prevented and what the long term implications are but the study was completed before COVID hit. Since COVID interrupted much of the education in this country and around the world, they are wondering how this will effect the development of the brain and cognitive abilities of children and adolescents.  

When I saw this study, I wondered if COVID interrupting education could lead to that happening to most of our students.  It could explain some of the issues I see in the classroom today.  I know they are often behind but I didn't realize there was a connection between taking math and the production of an important brain chemical.  It would be interesting if they redid the study with students to see if they observe the same type of thing in students who had to drop math due to COVID. I'd love to hear what you think.  Let me know.  Have a great day.