Courtney Pollack

Boston College | BC · Lynch School of Education

Children with dyslexia frequently also struggle with math. However, studies of reading disability (RD) rarely assess math skill, and the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying co‐occurring reading and math disability (RD+MD) are not clear. The current study aimed to identify behavioral and neurocognitive factors associated with co‐occurring MD among...

In the early 2000s, Kurt Fischer and colleagues founded the Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) field (Blake & Gardner, 2007; Fischer et al., 2007), including a flagship journal, society (International Mind, Brain, Education Society [IMBES]), and a master's degree program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (Harvard). The MBE program was first...

A growing body of evidence suggests that in adults, there is a spatially consistent “inferior temporal numeral area” (ITNA) in the occipitotemporal cortex that appears to preferentially process Arabic digits relative to non-numerical symbols and objects. However, very little is known about why the ITNA is spatially segregated from regions that proc...

What makes math difficulties so common in children with dyslexia? The current study aimed to identify behavioral and neurocognitive factors associated with co-occurring reading disability (RD) and math disability (MD). We tested reading, math, and cognitive skills in a sample of 86 children in 3rd–7th grade (ages 9-13) with RD. Within this sample,...

The ability to efficiently compare number symbols, such as digits, is associated with mathematics competence across the lifespan. Performance on symbolic number comparison tasks differ across age groups; young students who are developing fluency with digits improve on symbolic number comparison, and performance is better in adults than children. Ho...

As COVID-19 shuttered schools, it created widespread student and family needs and exacerbated challenges stemming from long-standing racial and economic inequities. Here, we examine how an evidenced-based, integrated student support intervention responded to systematically identify and address the academic and nonacademic needs of students and fami...

Knowledge of the relations among learners' socio-emotional characteristics and competencies as they engage in mathematics and reading is limited, especially for children with academic difficulties. This study examined the relations between anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading, within and across domains, in an academically-...

Knowledge of the relations among learners’ socio-emotional characteristics and competencies as they engage in mathematics and reading is limited, especially for children with academic difficulties. This study examined the relations between anxiety, motivation, and competence in mathematics and reading, within and across domains, in an academically-...

As COVID-19 shuttered schools, it created widespread student and family needs and exacerbated needs stemming from longstanding racial and economic inequities. Here we examine how an evidenced-based, integrated student support intervention responded to systematically identify and address the academic and non-academic needs of students and families i...

When reasoning about numbers, students are susceptible to a natural number bias (NNB): When reasoning about non-natural numbers they use properties of natural numbers that do not apply. The present study examined the NNB when students are asked to evaluate the validity of algebraic equations involving multiplication and division, with an unknown, a...

A region in the posterior inferior temporal gyrus (pITG) is thought to be specialized for processing Arabic numerals, but fMRI studies that compared passive viewing of numerals to other character types (e.g., letters and novel characters) have not found evidence of numeral preference in the pITG. However, recent studies showed that the engagement o...

This study examines the effect of an Integrated Student Support (ISS) intervention on postsecondary enrollment and completion for predominantly low-income and minority students. We use propensity score weighting to estimate the effect of receiving ISS during elementary school on postsecondary outcomes for 2009-2017 high school graduates from a larg...

This study examined impermanent symbol-referent connections (e.g., x = 5) with literal symbols – important symbols for higher-level mathematics that may be difficult to process due to interference from pre-existing associations from literacy. We examined literal symbol processing at the group and individual levels, and executive functioning and sym...

Learning mathematics requires fluency with symbols that convey numerical magnitude. Algebra and higher-level mathematics involve literal symbols, such as "x", that often represent numerical magnitude. Compared to other symbols, such as Arabic numerals, literal symbols may require more complex processing because they have strong pre-existing associa...

An increasing number of scholars are being trained in the field of mind, brain, and education (MBE), yet discussions of trainees' needs and how to meet them are rare. We, the inaugural International Mind, Brain, and Education Society (IMBES) Trainee Board, identify three broad needs of MBE trainees: guidance and support, greater access to and conne...

Learning mathematics requires fluency with symbols that convey numerical magnitude. Algebra and higher-level mathematics involve literal symbols, such as x, that often represent numerical magnitude. Compared to other symbols, such as Arabic numerals, literal symbols may require more complex processing because they have strong pre-existing associati...

Deficits in numerical magnitude perception characterize the mathematics learning disability developmental dyscalculia (DD), but recent studies suggest the relation stems from inhibitory control demands from incongruent visual cues in the nonsymbolic number comparison task. This study investigated the relation among magnitude perception during diffe...

The dominant model of number processing suggests the existence of a Number Form Area (NFA) in the inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) that supports the processing of Arabic digits as visual symbols of number. However, studies have produced inconsistent evidence for the presence and laterality of digit-specific ITG activity. Furthermore, whether any such...

Arithmetic facts can be solved using different strategies. Research suggests that some arithmetic problems, particularly those solved by fact retrieval, are related to phonological processing ability and elicit activity in left-lateralized brain regions that support phonological processing. However, it is unclear whether common brain regions suppor...

Higher-level mathematics requires a connection between literal symbols (e.g., ‘x’) and their mental representations. The current study probes the nature of mental representations for literal symbols using both the priming distance effect, in which ease of comparing a target number to a fixed standard is a function of prime-target distance, and the...

The topic of inhibition in mathematics education is both well timed and important. In this commentary, we reflect on the role of inhibition in mathematics learning through four themes that relate to how inhibition is defined, measured, developed, and applied. First, we consider different characterizations of inhibition and how they may shape the wa...

Functional neuroimaging research has identified multiple brain regions supporting reading-related activity in typical and atypical readers across different alphabetic languages. Previous meta-analyses performed on these functional magnetic resonance imaging findings typically report significant between-group contrasts comparing typical readers and...

Educational neuroscience represents a concerted interdisciplinary effort to bring the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and education to bear on classroom practice. This article draws attention to the current and potential implications of importing biological ideas, language and imagery into education. By analysing examples of brain-based c...

In recent years, educational neuroscience has begun to move into the limelight, suggesting an increased importance on the ethical considerations of educational neuroscience work, or educational neuroethics. In a departure from previous work on educational neuroethics, this article focuses on the ethical considerations that are applicable to empiric...

The ability to represent numerical quantities in symbolic form is a necessary foundation for mathematical competence. Variables are particularly important symbolic representations for learning algebra and succeeding in higher mathematics, but the mechanisms of how students link a variable to what it represents are not well understood. Research usin...

This special section explicitly introduces aspects of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) in order to help those new to the field develop a better understanding of and participate effectively in MBE. Researchers, policy makers, and practitioners who are already active in MBE will also benefit from the varied perspectives on MBE fundamentals to better...