The main aim of the experiment, that was done on a group of student from Oxford University and University College London, was to test if parts of the brain could be shocked into getting it to work better with numbers.
To test this, 15 students, divided into three groups were asked to solve the same two mathematical problems every day for a week. The problems, which involved identifying the larger of two numbers and plotting one on a number line, were made a little more challenging by replacing the numbers 1-9 with symbols.
However, before starting the test, two of the groups were subjected to a 20-minute session of a light electric current to the “parietal lobes”, which the scientists believe is the brain's number. For the first group the current flow was passed right to left, while for the second it was transmitted left to right. The third group received no help at all.
The group that got zapped right to left seemed to show a great improvement in their math skills. However, the ones that got zapped left to right move back to the level of almost six-year olds! The results for the people who got no help were somewhere in between.
While scientists are not sure why direction of the current would make such a difference, they believe that zapping it from the right side, seemed to turn up the activity of the brain cells to math, while going the other way turned or closed them down. Luckily, the impact was limited to the wavy line not numerals and, is expected to last for only six months!
While this is great news, do not toss out your “Kumon” supplements or fire your math tutor yet. That's because the research, no matter how successful is not being done to aid lazy students, but to help people who suffer from “dyscalculia”, a disease where people can't cope with simple day-to-day, like counting change or figuring out their expenses.
MY reflection
I think that this is so amazing and very helpful for math tests and if you dont get math all the time you can use this.
Posted by Meera Dolasia on 11/08/2010
Site: Dogo news
This is very amazing, but I'm not so sure that I would want my brain zapped. It's the only one I have. You wrote a good summary. Be sure to include the link to the site and the author.
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