Electric brain stimulation improves maths performance

Science 04 Nov 10 Applying electrical current to the brain can enhance people's mathematical abilities for up to six months, according to research by neuroscientists at Oxford University. The research, published this week in Current Biology , demonstrates for the first time that electrical stimulation can successfully enhance mathematical abilities. It builds on earlier work by Dr Cohen Kadosh of Oxford University and his team that showed that a temporary impairment in the processing of mathematical problems (dyscalculia) can be induced using brain stimulation. In the new study 15 student volunteers, aged 20-21, were taught symbols that represented different numerical values, and then timed to see how quickly and accurately they could complete a series of mathematical puzzles based on those symbols. Volunteers were given either a placebo or low (1mA) electrical stimuli that ran from right to left, or vice versa, across the parietal lobe - an area of the brain that is crucial for processing mathematical problems. Those who received stimulation from the right to the left parietal lobe reached a high level of performance in these tasks after a few sessions, whereas those with stimulation from the left to the right parietal lobes significantly underperformed, mirroring the behaviour of 6 year-old children. The placebo group's results fell somewhere between those of the two groups receiving stimulation.