ReviewFrontiers in neuroscience2020
A Review of the Effects of Abacus Training on Cognitive Functions and Neural Systems in Humans.
Review in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effects of the abacus-based mental calculation training application "SoroTouch" on cognitive functions: A randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2024Trial
- What Does 'Human-Centred AI' Mean?Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Impact of a physical-cognitive intervention on emotional regulation and school adjustment in primary school children.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- A multi-modal neuroimaging dataset on long-term cognitive training in school children.Scientific data · 2025Article
- Dedifferentiation and Transfer in Executive Function and Math Ability Following a Five-Year Abacus Training in Schoolchildren.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- A Multimodal Physical Program Combining Abacus Use and Exercise to Improve Motor Coordination and Flexibility in Primary School Children.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Effects of Abacus Training on Auditory Spatial Maturation in Children with Normal Hearing.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 2023Article
- A comparison of mental arithmetic performance in time and frequency domains.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Iconic Mathematics: Math Designed to Suit the Mind.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- Assessment and comparison of auditory and visual reaction time in abacus trained and untrained students aged 8 to 13 years in the south Indian population.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Abacus, which represents numbers via a visuospatial format, is a traditional device to facilitate arithmetic operations. Skilled abacus users, who have acquired the ability of abacus-based mental calculation (AMC), can perform fast and accurate calculations by manipulating an imaginary abacus in mind. Due to this extraordinary calculation ability in AMC users, there is an expanding literature investigating the effects of AMC training on cognition and brain systems. This review study aims to provide an updated overview of important findings in this fast-growing research field. Here, findings from previous behavioral and neuroimaging studies about AMC experts as well as children and adults receiving AMC training are reviewed and discussed. Taken together, our review of the existing literature suggests that AMC training has the potential to enhance various cognitive skills including mathematics, working memory and numerical magnitude processing. Besides, the training can result in functional and anatomical neural changes that are largely located within the frontal-parietal and occipital-temporal brain regions. Some of the neural changes can explain the training-induced cognitive enhancements. Still, caution is needed when extend the conclusions to a more general situation. Implications for future research are provided.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.