Didn't even mention if their performance was better/worse. What area of the brain lit up when I read this article? The BS detector...
When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
11–20 of 67 posts
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#12There is nothing special about algebra in that regard. Ask blind person to recall some visual memory (from before they went blind, obviously) and the effect is exactly the same. Or ask any healthy person to close one's eyes and do algebra - still the same effect.
The point is: our brain does not really tells apart reality from imagination. The same areas are involved in processing real images comming from the eyes, as well as internally "rendered" imaginary images.
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#13A functional MRI study of 17 people blind since birth found that areas of visual cortex became active when the participants were asked to solve algebra problems, a team from Johns Hopkins reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Yeah, I'm gonna take this study with a grain of salt. Too many "fMRI studies of 17 people" have turned out to be barely disguised hooey.
I heard the visual areas were predetermine simply because the oculor nerved terminates there. So if somebody was blind from birth they're claiming that some specialization might be hardcoded after all.
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#14I wonder if this would have the same conclusion when they're presented with calculus or other forms of math.
or if, for example, the fear pathways light up when presented with analysis: "Suppose ε > 0 ..."
Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Calculus Sensitive Sunglasses have been specially designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to calculus. At the first hint of calculus, they turn totally black and thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you.
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#15When people see, the brain's algebra area lights up.
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Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#16There is nothing special about algebra in that regard. Ask blind person to recall some visual memory (from before they went blind, obviously) and the effect is exactly the same. Or ask any healthy person to close one's eyes and do algebra - still the same effect. The point is: our brain does not really tells apart reality from imagination. The same areas are involved in processing real images comming from the eyes, a…
The study examined people blind since birth. But the article doesn't say much about the degree of their visual impairment—there's a big difference even between "no light perception" and "light perception only" (where people can still get visual information useful for orientation), much less higher amounts of vision.
If the study was restricted to people with no light perception since birth, that's a very small population, getting a larger sample might be difficult.
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#17Maybe what they considered visual includes abstract spatial (mentioned) areas, and abstract distances (n-dimensional differences) are the bread and butter of reflection.
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#18What happens when a dead salmon does algebra?
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#19When people see, the brain's algebra area lights up.
Maybe that explains why I can't see (I bump into things) when I'm doing algebra or other complex logical thinking.
Re: When Blind People Do Algebra, the Brain's Visual Areas Light Up
#20A functional MRI study of 17 people blind since birth found that areas of visual cortex became active when the participants were asked to solve algebra problems, a team from Johns Hopkins reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Yeah, I'm gonna take this study with a grain of salt. Too many "fMRI studies of 17 people" have turned out to be barely disguised hooey.
I heard the visual areas were predetermine simply because the oculor nerved terminates there. So if somebody was blind from birth they're claiming that some specialization might be hardcoded after all.
Biological GPGPU?