Mathematically gifted adolescents use more extensive and more bilateral areas of the fronto-parietal network than controls during executive functioning and fluid reasoning tasks.

Desco and colleagues studied the neural substrates of fluid reasoning and visuospatial working memory in children with precocious math ability. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used. The maximum differences between the gifted and control groups were seen at the highest level of testing difficulty. Multiple brain regions were involved. The results support the hypothesis that greater ability for complex mathematical reasoning may be related to more bilateral patterns of brain activation. Increased activation in the parietal and frontal regions of mathematically-gifted children is associated with enhanced skills in visuospatial processing and logical reasoning.

Desco M, Navas-Sanchez FJ, Sanchez-Gonzalez J, Reig S, Robles O, Franco C, Guzman-De-Villoria J, Garcia-Barreno P, Arango C. Neuroimage. 2011 Apr 1. [Epub ahead of print].

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21463696