TY - JOUR AU - Klados, Manousos A. AU - Simos, Panagiotis AU - Micheloyannis, Sifis AU - Margulies, Daniel AU - Bamidis, Panagiotis D. PY - 2015 M3 - Original Research TI - ERP measures of math anxiety: how math anxiety affects working memory and mental calculation tasks? JO - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00282 VL - 9 SN - 1662-5153 N2 - There have been several attempts to account for the impact of Mathematical Anxiety (MA) on brain activity with variable results. The present study examines the effects of MA on ERP amplitude during performance of simple arithmetic calculations and working memory tasks. Data were obtained from 32 university students as they solved four types of arithmetic problems (one- and two-digit addition and multiplication) and a working memory task comprised of three levels of difficulty (1, 2, and 3-back task). Compared to the Low-MA group, High-MA individuals demonstrated reduced ERP amplitude at frontocentral (between 180–320 ms) and centroparietal locations (between 380–420 ms). These effects were independent of task difficulty/complexity, individual performance, and general state/trait anxiety levels. Results support the hypothesis that higher levels of self-reported MA are associated with lower cortical activation during the early stages of the processing of numeric stimuli in the context of cognitive tasks. ER -