The British and Chinese do different maths

Thinking of native English speakers is far different from that of Chinese language users. Both easily solve arithmetic problems, but use different brain regions.

Magnetic resonance imaging shows bright areas of the brain when native Chinese (two rows above) and native English (two rows below) perform tasks related to symbols (left column) and children number (right column) . Photo PNAS

A team of researchers used brain scans to find out which areas of the brain were glowing when people performed simple calculations, such as 3 plus 4 equals 7. All participants used the system. Arabic numerals - used in both cultures: English and Chinese.

Both groups apply to a brain region called the shell under the apex, which involves reading and visualizing numbers.

However, if the original English speaker had more activity in the language processing area, the native Chinese people used an additional brain region to process visual information.

This difference "may mean that Chinese speakers deal with the problem in a different way than English speakers," Yiyuan Tang research leader from Technology University Dalian in Dalian, China. said.

"We believe that language plays an important role in doing math , " Tang said. But he added that cultural factors may also play a role, such as school math and teaching strategies.

These cultural differences can help scientists develop the best strategy to do math, Tang explained."It is possible that there are certain strategies that are more optimal, even if used in different languages," he said.

Richard Nisbett, co-director of the Cognitive and Cultural Program at the University of Michigan, USA, who did not participate in the study, commented: "This work is important because it tells us about special paths. in the brain underlies some differences between Asians and westerners in thinking. "

Last year Nisbett found a difference in the way Asians and North Americans see paintings. He watched the eye movement and found that, when observing a painting, North American students focused more on objects that stood out in the background, while Chinese students spent more time tattooing. Background and attention to the panorama.

"In the true meaning they observe the world in different ways , " he said.

T. An