Research Study: Math-Gifted Middle School Students' Brain Function

RESEARCH STUDY “THE BRAIN’S LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES SEEM TO WORK TOGETHER BETTER IN MATHEMATICALLY GIFTED MIDDLE-SCHOOL YOUTH”  WASHINGTON- There are really may be something different about the brains of math-heads. Mathematically gifted teens did better than avarage-ability teens and college s...

RESEARCH STUDY “THE BRAIN’S LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES SEEM TO WORK TOGETHER BETTER IN MATHEMATICALLY GIFTED MIDDLE-SCHOOL YOUTH”  WASHINGTON- There are really may be something different about the brains of math-heads. Mathematically gifted teens did better than avarage-ability teens and college students on test that required the two halves of the brain to cooperate, as reported in the April issue of Neuropsychology, published by the American psychological Association(APA) In the study, a joint effort of psychologist at the U.S Army Research institute for the behavioral and social sciences at Fort benning, Ga. and the university of Melbourne, Australia, researchers studied 60 right-handed males: 18 mathematically gifted( avarage nearly 14 year in age) 18 of avarage math ability( averaging just over 13) and 24 collage students(averaging about 20) Math giftedness seems to favor boys over girls, appearing an estimated six to 13 time more often. It's not known why but prenatal exposure to testosterone is suspected to be on one influence due to its selective The gifted boys were recuited from a challenges for youth-talented program at lowa state University. Whereas the avarage Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT) math score for college-bound high school seniors in 500( out of 800), the mathematically gifted boy's avarage SAT math score in middle school was 620. The boys viewed letter patterns flashed on the left or right sides of a computer screen, and had to indicate wether two patterns matched or not - a simple way of learning how the brain responds to data put before either the left or right visual field, corresponding to processing in the right or left brain because the input generally crosses over to the other side. The letter patterns were presented in three conditions - one-sided, to the right hemisphere( left eye); one-sided, to the left hemisphere( right eye); or bilaterally (both eyes). There are two types of task -- "local", saying two letters matched or mismatched on the small letters that went nto making big letters( for example, a big T whose two strokes were made of smaller T's), and "global", saying two big letters matched or mismatched. For the avarage teens and college students, the left brain hemisphere was faster for local matches and the right brain hemisphere was faster for global matches. This fit prior research, which has indicate that the left hemisphere is adept at processing visual "parts". in this case the letter details while the right hemisphere is more adept analyzing visual "wholes" in this case the global shapes of the big letters However, the mathematically gifted boy's showed no such hemispheric differences. Those who were precocious in math were equally good at processing global and local elements with their hemisphere, suggesting more interactive, cooperative the left and right brains. In addition, whereas avarage-ability boys college students were slower on cooperative trials, which presented letters patterns on both sides of the screen, the math-gifted showed the opposite pattern. They were shower on one-sided trials, but when a task "asked" both sides of the brain to work together, they were considerably faster than the other boys. The study supports the growing notion that the mathematically gifted are better at relaying and integrating information between the cerebral hemispheres. Says co-author Michael O'boyle, PhD, it's not that you have a special math module somewhere in your brain, but rather that brain's particular functional organization which allows right-hemisphere contribution to be better integrated into the overall cognitive/ behavioural equation-- predisposes it towards the use of high-level imagery and spatial skills, which it turn just happen to be very useful when it comes to doing math reasoning". The research support the broader that "the functional( though not necessarily structural) organization of the brain may be an important contributor to individual differences in cognitive abilities, talents and, at the very least, information processing styles," says O'Boyle. He adds, "various expressions of exceptionally, such as giftedness in math music or art, may be the by-product of a brain that has functionally organized itself in a qualitatively different way than the usual left/right hemispheric asymmetry". At the same time, O,Boyle is not sure wether the findings could apply to math education in general. "Our work may perhaps have something to say about the optimal timing of when a particular braint is most 'ready to learn' or acquire a given skill, but i don't think we can 'creat a math genius without the innate talent already there", he says. Finally given the rising user of testosterone by adult men. O,Boyle cautions that, "testosterone taken later in life will not help your math, as the window of influence on brain development is pretty much prenatal. It may enhance the muscle mass, but it is unlikely to help to solve calculus problems". WHAT IS MIND MAPING? Mind maping is a powerful thinking tool. It is a graphical technique that mirrors the way the brain works, and was invented by Tony buzan. Mind maping helps to make thinking visible. Most people make notes using lined paper and blue or black ink. Making notes more attractive to the brain by adding color and rhythm can aid the learning process, and can help to make learning fun. The subject being studied is crystallized in a central image and the main theme radiates out from the central image on branches, each branch holds a key image or key word. Details are then added to the main branches and radiate further out. Mind maps have a wide variety of uses, for example, note taking, revision planning, planning tor writing and problem solving can all be successfully The colors and the used will help children to organize their ideas and thoughts. They can be very simple or, quite detailed depending upon the age of the children and the complexity or the subject. Because creating the mind map involves the use of the left and right brain, remembering the information become easier.