What Is Special About the Brain Activity of Mathematically Gifted Adolescents?

Abstract

This paper addresses the neuro-cognitive characterization of super mathematically gifted high school students. The research population consisted of three groups of students excelling in mathematics: super mathematically gifted (S-MG), generally gifted students who excel in school mathematics (G-EM), and students who excel in school mathematics but are not identified as being generally gifted (NG-EM). An Event Related Potentials (ERP) research methodology was employed to examine behavioral and electrophysiological measures associated with insight-based and learning-based problem solving. Forty-two male adolescents participated in the study. Analysis of the electrical potentials evoked when solving these two distinct types of problems revealed three types of neuro-efficiency effects, which highlight the different characteristics of electrical activity of super mathematically gifted students. These characteristics are predominantly task-dependent, emerge at different stages of the task and are reflected in different scalp topography.