The New York Times – Malia Wollan
““The worst thing to do is create situations of pressure, intimidation, high emotion, frustration and raised voices,” says Daniel Ansari, a professor of psychology and education at the University of Western Ontario, who studies how humans develop mathematical skills. Math anxiety is a common psychophysiological reaction characterized by feelings of dread and apprehension, increased heart rate and sweating. Up to 30 percent of people report moderate to high levels of math anxiety, a condition researchers have observed in children as young as 6. In brain-image scans, math-anxious children show more activity in the amygdala, a part of the brain central to processing fear.” (more)