The learning ability of mathematics is – in a good part – innate, but a study has just demonstrated that if neuronal connections are stimulated in the two areas of the brain where these capacities are (frontal and parietal cortex) could be improved.
This is highlighted by a study led by researchers from the University of Surrey (United Kingdom) that includes PLOS Biology on Tuesday.
To better understand the neurobiology of mathematical learning, the authors measured the connection force between the regions of the brain associated with these capabilities while 72 participants, with an average age of 21 years, carried out calculation exercises.
In subsequent tests, carried out for 5 days, the researchers divided the participants into three groups of 24 people. One of the groups received a small electrical stimulation in the frontal cortex (from where executive calculations and functions are performed), another in the parietal (associated with memory) and a third a placebo.
They also resorted to magnetic resonances of the brain to measure two chemicals of the brain, glutamate and gamma-aminobutiric acid, which offer keys to the brain’s ability to learn and adapt.
The results have indicated that greater basal connectivity between the aforementioned areas of the brain and the hippocampus (a region involved in long -term memory) implies a better mathematical performance in calculation exercises.
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Brain stimulation could improve mathematics learning
People with weaker neuronal connections in the frontal and parietal cortex improved their mathematical abilities after receiving electrical stimulation, indicating that this system could “help improve learning in people who present that biological disadvantage,” says one of the authors, Roi Cohen Kadosh, a psychology researcher at the University of Surrey, in a statement from the center.
“With techniques like this we could help more people improve their potential, and their professional perspectives,” adds the researcher.
“The study is very interesting. The results are promising in an area of both theoretical relevance, in relation to brain functioning; as applied, in the design of interventions to help people with difficulties in specific cognitive fields, such as the mathematical calculation,” says the psychology researcher at the Spanish University of Granada, María Ruz.
“There is some previous literature that shows a positive effect of brain stimulation on mathematical skills, as well as in other areas. This study adds to that evidence and adds more information on biological variables that mediate the effectiveness of the intervention,” Ruz adds in a reaction collected by Science Media Center Spain.
However, the researcher clarifies that the sample of the study is small, and that the practical implications are for the moment “limited.”
“It would be good to be able to see the effects of medium -term brain stimulation (weeks or months after stimulation) and also in more daily contexts, such as mathematics exams of children in class,” concludes the researcher at the University of Granada.
With EFE information.
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