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In one test, participants were shown two of the symbols they had learned on a screen. One of the symbols might represent the number two and the other the number four. However, the two symbol would be intentionally bigger than the four symbol.
The researchers then asked the participants which "number" was physically larger, the 2 symbol or the 4 symbol.
People with normal mathematical abilities have trouble with this task, though very young children and people with dyscalculia don't, Cohen Kadosh explained.
That's because in normal brains, different mental processes—in this case size and evaluating numbers—interfere with one another.
When the participants' brains were electrically stimulated, their performance in the task worsened—proving that their math skills had improved.
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that seems like a pretty big assumption to me. perhaps, by damaging the previously working function, it increases their ability to acquire math skills. but without actually measuring the math skills, you don't know.
this experiment makes me wonder about a lot of things. like are they enhancing function of a part of the brain, or damaging function? both at once? is math a type of autism? the math-interfering trait seems important to art and craft, tasks that may be less-valued in modern society, but seem central to our getting to this point.
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