Specific 'mathematical neurons' in the brain

When a computation is performed, some neurons are active during addition and others are active during subtraction

There are certain neurons in the brain that are specifically activated during certain mathematical operations

Most elementary school students probably already know that three apples plus two apples equals five apples

Some neurons in the brain become particularly active during addition tasks, while others become particularly active during subtraction tasks

The researchers benefit from a special function in the Epilepsy Department of the University Hospital Bonn

Some neurons fire only when summed

Five women and four men participated in the current study

It wasn't that some neurons responded only to the '+' sign, while others responded only to the '-' sign: "Even if we replaced the mathematical sign with words, the effect didn't change," said Professor Morman's research group.

In the study, tiny electrodes were implanted in the brains of five women and four men to measure the activity of individual neurons

This suggests that these discovered cells are actually encoding mathematical instructions for actions

Prof.

Mormann emphasizes: "This study marks an important step towards a better understanding of one of the most important symbolic abilities of humans - computing with numbers

Reference: "Neuronal codes for arithmetic rule processing in the human brain" by Esther F.