HMA individuals show weaker brain activation discrepancy between high and low task difficulty than LMA peers in valuation and cognitive control regions¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In the task difficulty × math anxiety group interaction contrast, the HMA group showed weaker activation discrepancy between high and low difficulty than LMA peers in ventral valuation and cognitive control regions; the reward × group interaction showed no significant effect on activation. → Jie Liu 2025

Evidence¶

Jie Liu 2025¶

Jie Liu, Zhifeng Li, Jiawang Yang, Hao He & Fang Cui. (2025). The neurocognitive mechanism underlying math avoidance among math anxious people. npj Science of Learning 10:50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00343-0

q3 · i? · causal · r?

fMRI GLM in the same study localized activation for the difficulty × group interaction in regions including cuneus, SMA, right TPJ, MCC, Rolandic operculum, left PI, right HPC, NAc, and superior temporal gyrus; the HMA group's high-low difficulty activation discrepancy was weaker than LMA peers'.

"The HMA group showed weaker brain activation discrepancy between high and low task difficulty among these areas than their LMA peers. In contrast, the interaction effect between reward magnitude and math anxiety group showed no significant effect on the brain activation, which is consistent with the behavioral observations."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Functional connectivity among six task-difficulty-sensitive ROIs classifies HMA versus LMA individuals at 70.49% accuracy, with PI–MCC, HPC–precuneus and TPJ–NAc edges most diagnostic — related
• Under high task difficulty, HMA individuals accept significantly fewer math problem challenges than LMA individuals, with no group difference under low difficulty — related
• HMA individuals show heightened sensitivity to task difficulty but not reward in drift-diffusion modeling of math decisions — related
• Hippocampal, posterior insula and mid-cingulate activation mediate the math anxiety–avoidance relationship via reduced activation discrepancy between difficulties — related
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