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People born without sight appear to solve math problems using visual areas of the brain.
A functional MRI study of 17 people blind since birth found that areas of visual cortex became active when the participants were asked to solve algebra problems, a team from Johns Hopkins reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"And as the equations get harder and harder, activity in these areas goes up in a blind person," says Marina Bedny, an author of the study and an assistant professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
In 19 sighted people doing the same problems, visual areas of the brain showed no increase in activity.
"That really suggests that yes, blind individuals appear to be doing math with their visual cortex," Bedny says.
Can they reduce math phobia while the subjects are in the MRI machines?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Francis on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:27PM
The issue is that you can't use the same part of the brain for two things simultaneously. You wind up with interference between the two processes. That's why when people multi-task on similar tasks they wind up so stressed, they're forced to switch back and forth very rapidly.
People who don't use a particular sense are in a position where they've got neurons going unused and the brain has a tendency to find some way of using it effectively or it doesn't grow the neurons.
As far as I can tell, the study doesn't make any assertions about whether or not blind mathematicians are better than ones that can see. But, I'd suspect that on average they're better at the abstract as they don't need to break the bad habit of trying to visualize things and they probably make fewer errors in what they write down. But, on the downside, if you can't see, that's going to require a lot more memory skill in order to determine where you are in the process as I don't think it's possible to write in braille.
Personally, I've got synesthesia and I tend to use the visual cortex for all sorts of non-standard things. I try very hard to avoid visualizing or even understanding what I'm doing while I'm doing it. I just focus on whether what I'm doing is mathematically valid. Once I've got a result, then I go back and verify that things make sense and try to understand what I've done. The big advantage of doing it like that is that I'm less likely to block myself from the solution and I'm less likely to be learning wrong things. Not to mention that it makes no sense at all to try and understand something if you don't even know what it is. Imagine trying to understand a calliope if you don't even know what that is.
But, it comes at a cost. I can't look at things and touch things at the same time. And my vision is significantly impaired if I'm listening. It's still probably worth it as the ability to view things in a purely abstract way is invaluable more often than not.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:33PM
Really? How do you imagine people use it then?
http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/tools-writing-braille
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by Francis on Wednesday September 21 2016, @07:04PM
You're link pretty much confirms what I said about it being impossible to write braille.
Also, it's going to be rather tough to write complex mathematical formulas with any sort of typewriter, hence the invention of Latex and similar.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:54PM
And my vision is significantly impaired if I'm listening
Interesting. I am pretty sure I don't have synesthesia, but my hearing gets impaired by all sorts of weird things that have nothing to do with hearing. I wonder if it's related, possibly even a milder form.
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(Score: 0, Troll) by Francis on Wednesday September 21 2016, @07:12PM
There's many different kinds and some of them are more easily noticed than others. There's upwards of 20 senses that humans have and when any of them get entangled so that stimulating one of them results in a sensation in another, you wind up with synesthesia. It's just that the less commonly noted senses like balance and acceleration get messed up you get a lack of balance or coordination, and aren't usually noted as synesthesia even though they might be.
The people who literally see colors when they hear sounds or feel textures when they read words are a minority of the people within the group of synesthetes. The more common thing is for things to just have an odd feel to them that's distinct and automatic, but not really describable in an obvious way.
For me, I've got second sight, so when I'm riding my motorcycle and the rear wheel rolls along a manhole cover, I literally see the wheel sliding around the cover, rather than feel the wheel slide over the cover. Same goes when I'm rummaging around in my backpack, I can't do that with my eyes open, I have to close my eyes because seeing interferes with what I'm feeling.
It's kind of cool, but it is rather disorienting at first and takes a certain amount of time to get used to. But, it's really useful to be able to see a bill fallout of your pocket based purely on the feel of it rubbing against the outside of the pants. Most people can't even feel that, let alone see it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @10:35PM
It's always amusing when people randomly moderate things.