[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6227\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EHow do you solve a problem like dyscalculia?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is thought that around 5 % of people in Europe may suffer from the condition, which can cause problems with estimating numbers, counting backwards and mental arithmetic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers are trying to find out more about how our brains process numbers and what is going on when they have problems doing so, in a bid to find solutions and increase the knowledge of the condition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I receive emails from parents of children, as well as adults, who have maths difficulties. They live in frustration, not knowing what\u2019s wrong with them until they understand that there\u2019s a name for it,\u2019 said Professor Roi Cohen Kadosh of the University of Oxford\u2019s Department of Experimental Psychology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe is leading the LEARNING\u0026amp;ACHIEVEMENT project, funded by the EU\u0027s European Research Council, which is examining cognitive development in healthy subjects. \u2018We want to establish what happens in the healthy developing brain before examining those that have atypical development,\u2019 said Prof. Cohen Kadosh. \u2018It will give us a much more powerful and fuller understanding to start with what\u2019s working, and then know what\u2019s not and why not.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers use tests to assess cognitive function in mathematical and non-mathematical abilities and, in tandem, assess how the brain is developing. The aim is to better understand how the brain\u2019s ability to cope with numbers fits in with its other areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We know that maths abilities are not single entities \u2013\u0026nbsp;they interact with other cognitive abilities. Giving a more unified and integrative picture of maths ability is one of our goals.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022If you had dyscalculia, you would have trouble...\u0022 height=\u00221156\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Dyscalculia_graphic.jpg\u0022 width=\u00221200\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EIf you had dyscalculia, you would have trouble...\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough Prof. Cohen Kadosh\u2019s project will not have immediate practical applications, finding out more about how the brain works with respect to mathematical abilities will help dyscalculia sufferers by allowing them to understand their condition better.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018You know that you are not stupid so it is something that will not affect as deeply on your self-esteem. You will get some help and it will be recognised by your teachers or environment, and that in itself is important,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne perspective being explored by a separate group of researchers is the relationship between mathematical abilities and how well our brains process visual and spatial information, so-called visuospatial working memory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel are studying the role of visuospatial working memory in children with typical development and college students with dyscalculia. The idea is to find out more about how we count up numbers by visualising them in our heads.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018A low level of visuospatial working memory blocks the ability to represent numbers mentally and the understanding of numbers is different.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVISUOQUANT is at an early stage but Dr Sarit Ashkenazi, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel,\u0026nbsp;hopes her research could lead to ways to help those with dyscalculia, including computer-based training. \u2018I think it looks promising even though it is not designed directly to help with maths but to improve visuospatial working memory. I hope that this will give some solutions for children and adults with difficulties in maths,\u2019 she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDimensions\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElsewhere, researchers are investigating the relationship between the brain\u2019s ability to deal with non-countable dimensions - such as size and area - and the development of arithmetic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Avishai Henik of the Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel is leading the SMINC project, funded by the EU\u2019s European Research Council. \u2018In numerical cognition most of the research is about discrete variables, countable properties \u2013 how many dots are there,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018What my grant suggests is that we have to look at non-countable dimensions. If there are two glasses of water, which has more water?\u2019\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018A low level of visuospatial working memory blocks the ability to represent numbers mentally.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Sarit Ashkenazi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research is based on a phenomenon called the size-congruity effect, in which subjects are shown a visual representation of two digits that differ both in physical size and numerical values and asked to say which is larger.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the digits the subjects are shown have incongruent physical size \u2013\u0026nbsp;a small \u20188\u2019 and a huge \u20182\u2019 \u2013 that slows down people\u2019s answers. \u2018If you\u2019re asked to ignore the numerical value and just look at the physical size, the numerical value will affect your performance only if you\u2019re proficient with numerical systems,\u2019 Prof. Henik said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVery young children do not show this effect \u2013\u0026nbsp;it begins to develop during first grade \u2013\u0026nbsp;but Prof. Henik\u2019s team has shown that dyscalculic adults show an effect similar to that of first graders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Our preliminary results with dyscalculic adults look as if they have difficulties with conceptual sizes, suggesting that they may have a problem with evaluating sizes,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If we can continue with this and prove that it is true, it means that we might be able to diagnose dyscalculia, or proneness to dyscalculia, very early on in kindergarten, when children aren\u2019t really familiar with the numerical system but they are familiar with the size of objects.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce the problem has been identified it will be easier to come up with solutions, which could include video games to help train dyscalculics to overcome their difficulties evaluating sizes, Prof. Henik said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The question is whether training in sizes will help later on with arithmetic. We first have to show that there is a connection.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-qiapy-xuqng0qrq0e3ttq6lqtqnji5xyizvevqsgats\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-qiaPy_xUQng0Qrq0e3tTQ6LqTQNJi5xyIZVEvqsgATs\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]