Investigating EEG Based Marker for Diagnosis of Mathematical Difficulties

Abstract

Mathematical difficulty in mathematics, also known as Dyscalculia, is a learning disability that makes it difficult to comprehend numbers and symbols and to perform mathematical calculations. Generally, it's known as the mathematical version of dyslexia. In this study, Hjorth parameters were used to analyze the change of EEG signals during mental arithmetic task for multifractal analysis of EEG signals. Other features such as relative power and statistical properties were also analyzed. This study may provide an alternative diagnostic method for some psychological disorders such as arithmetic learning and difficulties in understanding, and mathematical difficulties. The aim of the study is to provide a simple test and feature extraction for the diagnosis of mental illnesses and mathematics difficulties at an early age. For this purpose, the data are taken from the same number of participants who do good and bad at math problems. We found that ratio of theta band's amplitudes on alpha band's amplitude could be a main feature to investigate the mathematical difficulties.