Trial reportNature human behaviour2021
Training spatial cognition enhances mathematical learning in a randomized study of 17,000 children.
Trial report in Nature human behaviour, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
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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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cognitive control training with domain-general response inhibition does not change children's brains or behavior.Nature neuroscience · 2024Trial
- Cognitive Modifiability of Mental Rotation: Effects of Mediation, Sex, and Working Memory Among Third-Grade Students.Journal of Intelligence · 2026Article
- Effects of orienteering exercise on spatial visualization ability in preschool children aged 4-5 years: Behavioral and fNIRS evidence.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Training SONAR spatial interpretation using virtual reality.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2025Article
- Article
- Exploring the influence of the DRD2 gene on mathematical ability: perspectives of gene association and gene-environment interaction.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Locating the potential development of spatial ability in the Swedish national curriculum.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Unpacking associations among children's spatial skills, mathematics, and arithmetic strategies: decomposition matters.Psychological research · 2024Article
- An experimental manipulation of the value of effort.Nature human behaviour · 2024Article
- Strengthening of alpha synchronization is a neural correlate of cognitive transfer.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
- Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Variability Are Ubiquitous and Distinct From Mean Performance in a Battery of Eleven Tasks.Journal of cognition · 2024Article
- Overemphasizing individual differences and overlooking systemic factors reinforces educational inequality.NPJ science of learning · 2023Article
- A dual-process model for cognitive training.NPJ science of learning · 2023Article
- No evidence of a positive effect of learning Chinese language as an L2 on spatial ability.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- A hybrid computational approach to anticipate individuals in sequential problem solving.Frontiers in artificial intelligence · 2023Article
- A multi-faceted role of dual-state dopamine signaling in working memory, attentional control, and intelligence.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Review
- Transfer from spatial education to verbal reasoning and prediction of transfer from learning-related neural change.Science advances · 2022Article
- The impact of digital media on children's intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Boosting Numerical Cognition in Children and Adolescents with Mathematical Learning Disabilities by a Brain-Based Intervention: A Study Protocol for a Randomized, Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Teaching the Science in Neuroscience to Protect From Neuromyths: From Courses to Fieldwork.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Spatial and mathematical abilities are strongly associated. Here, we analysed data from 17,648 children, aged 6-8 years, who performed 7 weeks of mathematical training together with randomly assigned spatial cognitive training with tasks demanding more spatial manipulation (mental rotation or tangram), maintenance of spatial information (a visuospatial working memory task) or spatial, non-verbal reasoning. We found that the type of cognitive training children performed had a significant impact on mathematical learning, with training of visuospatial working memory and reasoning being the most effective. This large, community-based study shows that spatial cognitive training can result in transfer to academic abilities, and that reasoning ability and maintenance of spatial information is relevant for mathematics learning in young children.
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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.