Many grade school children probably currently know that 3 apples plus 2 apples add up to 5 apples. What occurs in the brain during such calculations is still mainly unknown. The present study by the Universities of Bonn and Tübingen now sheds light on this concern.
Some neurons in the brain become active specifically in addition tasks, others in subtraction. Credit: Christian Burkert/Volkswagen-Stiftung/University of Bonn.
The scientists gained from a special feature of the Department of Epileptology at the University Hospital Bonn. It focuses on surgeries on the brains of people with epilepsy. In some clients, seizures constantly stem from the exact same location of the brain. In order to precisely localize this malfunctioning area, the medical professionals implant numerous electrodes into the clients. The probes can be utilized to specifically determine the origin of the spasm. In addition, the activity of specific neurons can be measured through the electrical wiring.
Some neurons fire just when summing up
They had actually electrodes implanted in the so-called temporal lobe of the brain to tape-record the activity of nerve cells. “We discovered that different neurons fired throughout additions than throughout subtractions,” describes Prof. Florian Mormann from the Department of Epileptology at the University Hospital Bonn.
It was not the case that some nerve cells reacted only to a “+” indication and others just to a “-” sign: “Even when we changed the mathematical symbols with words, the result stayed the very same,” discusses Esther Kutter, who is doing her doctorate in Prof. Mormanns research group. “For example, when topics were asked to compute 5 and 3, their addition neurons sprang back into action; whereas for 7 less 4, their subtraction nerve cells did.”
For the study, tiny electrodes were implanted in the brains of five ladies and 4 males to determine the activity of specific nerve cells. Credit: Christian Burkert/Volkswagen-Stiftung/University of Bonn
The brain activity thus revealed with terrific precision what kind of tasks the test subjects were presently computing: The researchers fed the cells activity patterns into a self-learning computer system program. When the algorithm was confronted with new activity data after this training phase, it was able to accurately determine during which computational operation it had been taped.
Prof. Andreas Nieder from the University of Tübingen monitored the research study together with Prof. Mormann. “We understand from try outs monkeys that nerve cells particular to particular computational rules also exist in their brains,” he states. “In human beings, however, there is hardly any data in this regard.” Throughout their analysis, the two working groups encountered a fascinating phenomenon: One of the brain regions studied was the so-called parahippocampal cortex. There, too, the researchers discovered nerve cells that fired specifically during addition or subtraction. When summing up, various addition neurons became alternately active throughout one and the very same math task. Figuratively speaking, it is as if the plus key on the calculator were constantly altering its location. It was the very same with subtraction. Scientists likewise describe this as “dynamic coding.”
” This study marks an essential action towards a better understanding of among our most crucial symbolic abilities, particularly calculating with numbers,” stresses Mormann. The two groups from Bonn and Tübingen now desire to examine exactly what role the afferent neuron found play in this.
Reference: “Neuronal codes for arithmetic rule processing in the human brain” by Esther F. Kutter, Jan Boström, Christian E. Elger, Andreas Nieder and Florian Mormann, 14 February 2022, Current Biology.DOI: 10.1016/ j.cub.2022.01.054.
The research study was moneyed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Volkswagen Foundation.
The brain has neurons that fire particularly throughout specific mathematical operations. The findings indicate that some of the nerve cells spotted are active specifically during additions, while others are active throughout subtractions. “We discovered that different nerve cells fired throughout additions than during subtractions,” describes Prof. Florian Mormann from the Department of Epileptology at the University Hospital Bonn.
“We understand from experiments with monkeys that neurons specific to specific computational guidelines also exist in their brains,” he says. When summing up, various addition neurons became alternately active during one and the exact same arithmetic job.
When performing estimations, some nerve cells are active when including, others when deducting.
The brain has nerve cells that fire particularly during particular mathematical operations. This is shown by a recent study performed by the Universities of Tübingen and Bonn The findings indicate that some of the neurons identified are active exclusively throughout additions, while others are active throughout subtractions. They do not care whether the calculation direction is made a note of as a word or a symbol. The outcomes have now been published in the journal Current Biology.
