Mathematics Anxiety Selectively Modulates Attentional and Memory-Related Neural Mechanisms During Numerical Cognition

Mathematics achievement can be influenced by negative emotions and expectations related to numerical tasks. Individuals with high mathematics anxiety often show poorer numerical performance. This study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying different levels of numerical processing associated with mathematics anxiety using number line estimation and arithmetic verification tasks during fMRI. Participants were classified into high (n=22, age=23.09{+/-}2.22) and low (n=24, age=22.67{+/-}3.29) mathematics anxiety groups based on detailed screening prior to scanning. Trait and test anxiety were also assessed to capture broader anxiety-related characteristics. Before the fMRI session, participants completed assessments of calculation performance and digit span, and a mock MRI session was used to reduce scanner-related stress. Participants completed task and control conditions for each numerical task during fMRI. Neuroimaging findings were analyzed before and after statistically controlling for trait and test anxiety. Results showed that low mathematics anxiety was associated with greater frontal eye field activity during number-space mapping and stronger supramarginal gyrus activity during arithmetic computation compared with high mathematics anxiety. Controlling for general anxiety revealed a dissociation between mathematics anxiety-specific and general anxiety-related neural effects. Overall, mathematics anxiety selectively influenced attentional and memory mechanisms, whereas broader anxiety processes engaged distinct motor and cognitive systems. Key PointsO_LIMathematics anxiety differentially modulates neural activity across distinct numerical processes. C_LIO_LIMathematics anxiety selectively affects attentional and memory-related mechanisms, independent of general anxiety. C_LIO_LINeural differences in salience and motor-related regions are better explained by general anxiety rather than mathematics anxiety. C_LI