ARE WE BORN AS MATHEMATICIANS? ON THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MATHEMATICAL ABILITIES

Abstract

The ability to use numbers seems to be a competence that we acquire in the education process and under
the influence of environmental stimulation. However, several basic cognitive abilities, which are pivotal for mental processing of numbers, are congenital and they have a quite well defined and widely documented genetic and neurobiological basis. Environmental influences are important in shaping our competences in the field of mathematics, but they are insufficient without the effect of these biological factors. What do we know about the biological determinants of the mathematical competencies? This paper is a review of some results reported in the literature, which presents the evidences from studies on numerical competences observed in animals and human infants, as well as the results from neuroimaging studies on neuronal basis of number processing and disabilities in this issue. The results of all these studies clearly indicate that mathematical skills are determined both by biological and environmental e.g. cultural, educational) components