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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: 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.