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Abstract It has been proposed that elementary arithmetic induces spatial shifts of attention. However, the timing of this arithmetic-space association remains unknown. Here we investigate this issue with a target detection paradigm. Detecting targets in the right visual field was faster than in the left visual field when preceded by an addition operation, while detecting targets in the left visual field was faster than in the right visual field when preceded by a subtraction operation. The arithmetic-space association was found both at the end of the arithmetic operation and during calculation. In contrast, the processing of operators themselves did not induce spatial biases. Our results suggest that the arithmetic-space association resides in the mental arithmetic operation rather than in the individual numbers or the operators. Moreover, the temporal course of this effect was different in addition and subtraction.