Sunday, November 7, 2010

Better Math Ability Through Electricity


Psst! Wanna be better at math? The answer may be shockingly simple: just give your noggin a little jolt!

The electricity generated by a 9-volt battery might be all there is between you and the mathematical brilliance of a Newton or an Einstein.

OK, we can’t guarantee you’ll be that smart, but, amazingly, British scientists have now shown that low voltage current applied to the right part of the scalp can spark changes that boost the brain’s math abilities. What’s more, that mild jolt can lock in your improved mathematical prowess for as long as six month, according to new research published in this month’s issue of Current Biology.

The findings come too late for those of us who already suffered through middle school algebra, but maybe future generations will benefit.

The researchers, led by Roi Cohen Kadosh from the University of Oxford, suspected that a little electricity directed at the right parietal lobe – a brain region at the top of the head and known to play a role in numerical calculations – might juice up a person’s math ability.

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