ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of neurocognitive factors, because these are on a theoretical level of analysis closer to the study of neurobiological factors, such as brain structure and function. It discusses the developmental imaging data, which have pointed to communalities as well as important differences in the arithmetic network compared to what has been observed in adults. Mathematics represents a key component of the educational curriculum of children and adolescents and remains quintessential in our daily adult life. The consistent activation of the intraparietal sulci during mathematical tasks has triggered a large number of behavioral studies that examined the role of numerical magnitude processing in arithmetic. Studies on the neurocognitive correlates of individual differences in arithmetic development provide hints as to which variables should be included in diagnostic measures that aim to identify children at risk for developing mathematical learning difficulties.
