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Brain's area for numeral recognition pinpointed

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Press Trust of India Washington
Last Updated : Apr 17 2013 | 5:15 PM IST
Scientists have discovered a cluster of nerve cells in the human brain that specialises in processing numerals.
The cluster identified by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine consists of 1 to 2 million nerve cells in the inferior temporal gyrus, a superficial region of the outer cortex on the brain.
The inferior temporal gyrus is already generally known to be involved in the processing of visual information.
In the study, scientists determined the precise anatomical coordinates of a brain "hot spot," measuring only about one-fifth of an inch across, that is preferentially activated when people view the ordinary numerals we learn early on in elementary school, like "6" or "38."
Activity in this spot relative to neighbouring sites drops off substantially when people are presented with numbers that are spelled out ("one" instead of "1"), homophones ("won" instead of "1") or "false fonts," in which a numeral or letter has been altered.
"This is the first-ever study to show the existence of a cluster of nerve cells in the human brain that specialises in processing numerals," said Josef Parvizi, senior author of the study.

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"In this small nerve-cell population, we saw a much bigger response to numerals than to very similar-looking, similar-sounding and similar-meaning symbols.
"It's a dramatic demonstration of our brain circuitry's capacity to change in response to education. No one is born with the innate ability to recognise numerals," he said.
The findings could have direct clinical ramifications for patients with dyslexia for numbers and with dyscalculia: the inability to process numerical information.
The new study builds on an earlier one in which volunteers had been challenged with math questions.
"We had accumulated lots of data from that study about what parts of the brain become active when a person is focusing on arithmetic problems, but we were mostly looking elsewhere and hadn't paid much attention to this area within the inferior temporal gyrus," said Parvizi.
The study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

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First Published: Apr 17 2013 | 5:15 PM IST

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