Source: NPR
A new study found that persons who are visually impaired use visual processing regions of the brain, as well as numerical, when doing algebra.
The study found that our experiences can influence how our brains process numerical tasks. In many cases, for individuals who lack a sense, their brains rewire and allocate brain regions to process other senses.
Researchers examined the brains of 17 blind patients, and 19 sighted patients as they solved algebra problems and meanwhile examined their brain activity to see which parts of the brain lit up with oxygen – indicating that the brain region is being used. They found that generally, sighted subjects used traditional numeric brain regions to solve problems, while blind patients used numeric and visual brain regions.
“The big takeaway is that the brain is really flexible but also really resilient,”Shipra Kanjlia, a graduate student in psychology at Johns Hopkins and lead author of the paper, as reported by NPR.
Read full story at: NPR