Math anxiety (MA) is associated with negative thoughts and emotions when encountering mathematics, often resulting in under-performance on math tasks. One hypothesized mechanism by which MA affects performance is through anxiety-related increases in working memory (WM) load, diverting resources away from mathematical computations. We examined whether this effect is specific to WM or whether the impact of MA extends to an overall depletion of executive function (EF) resources. In this fMRI experiment, we manipulated two separate factors known to impact EF demands-task-switching (TS) and increased WM load-in order to evaluate how MA relates to behavioral performance and neural activity related to mathematical calculations. Relative to a difficult non-math task (analogies), we observed MA-related deficits in math performance and reduced neural activity in a network of regions in the brain associated with arithmetic processing. In response to TS demands, higher levels of math anxiety were associated with a pattern of avoidance and disengagement. When switching from the control task, high math anxiety (HMA) was associated with disengagement from math trials, speeding through these trials, and exhibiting reduced neural activity in regions associated with arithmetic processing. The effects of math anxiety and WM were most pronounced at the lowest levels of WM load. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the effects of MA are broader than previously demonstrated and provide further insight into how EF deficits in MA might impact recruitment of neural resources that are important for successful math computations.

中文翻译：

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数学焦虑和执行功能：任务切换对算术处理的神经影响。

数学焦虑（MA）与遇到数学时的消极思想和情绪相关联，通常会导致数学任务表现不佳。MA影响性能的一种假设机制是通过与焦虑相关的工作记忆（WM）负载增加，使资源从数学计算中转移出来。我们检查了这种影响是否特定于WM或MA的影响是否扩展到执行功能（EF）资源的整体消耗。在此fMRI实验中，我们操纵了两个已知的因素来影响EF需求－任务转换（TS）和增加WM负荷，以评估MA与行为表现和与数学计算有关的神经活动之间的关系。相对于困难的非数学任务（类比），我们在与算术处理相关的大脑区域网络中观察到了与MA相关的数学表现缺陷和神经活动减少。为了满足TS的要求，较高的数学焦虑水平与避免和脱离接触的模式有关。从控制任务切换时，高数学焦虑（HMA）与脱离数学试验，加快这些试验的速度以及在与算术处理相关的区域表现出的神经活动减少有关。在最低的WM负荷水平下，数学焦虑和WM的影响最为明显。总体而言，这项研究的结果表明，MA的影响范围比以前证明的要广，并且可以进一步了解MA的EF缺陷如何影响对成功进行数学计算非常重要的神经资源的募集。