Intergenerational transmission of Math Learning Disability: Neural mechanisms and behavioral moderators – GENMATH

The goal of GENMATH is to understand how Math Learning Disability (MLD), a learning disorder affecting 5% to 10% of children worldwide, may be transmitted from parents to children. GENMATH combines an innovative multivariate intergenerational neuroimaging design with longitudinal analyses of the home learning environment in families with a history of MLD. The project has three work packages: (WP1) will identify the neural pathways through which MLD may be transmitted from parents to children, (WP2) will identify the neural mechanisms protecting at-risk children from the transmission of MLD, and (WP3) will explore the parental attitudes, expectations, and behaviors moderating the intergenerational transmission of MLD. At the neural level, our hypothesis is that the transmission of MLD depends on the transmission of weak representations of numerical quantity in the parietal cortex, as well as on the potential involvement of prefrontal mechanisms in children that may compensate for these weak representations. At the behavioral level, our hypothesis is that parental attitudes and expectations towards math learning, as well as quality of the home numeracy environment, might moderate the intergenerational transmission of MLD.