I know how much my readers love math related stories, but this is kinda cool. New research shows that when you are doing mental math that you are actually making use of neural structures in the visual cortex originally dedicated to sight. This is one of those things I’ve always sort of suspected based on my personal experience. Mathematics has always manifested itself in my mind as shapes. Even when doing simple arithmetic, I picture a simple number line in my head and bounce around on it. Further, when trying to teach my sons mental math “tricks,” using visual metaphors has always had the most success.

I suppose an interesting follow-on study would be to see if this in any way relates to sex-related differences in math performance. After all, it’s fairly well documented that men consistently outperform woman in spatial skills. There’s still a lot of debate over whether there is any real sex-related difference in math skills. But I suspect this new research may say that men and women learn math differently. This might also explain that while women are certainly capable of doing math, there is a virtual dearth of female mathematicians that contribute original work to the field.

I’m just speculating here, but there is a difference from being able to use math and being able to truly understand it. And I think that understanding the complex poly-dimensional shapes represented by advanced math is a highly spatial task. I suspect that perhaps both sexes are equally adept at using math, but to truly grok it requires a spatial ability that gives men the edge. And yes, I recognize that this is politically incorrect, so I am donning my Nomex underwear. But that doesn’t preclude it being true.