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I have a learning disability called dyscalculia. I wouldn't be surprised if you've never heard of it. Most people have heard of dyslexia which refers to people that can't keep words and letters straight. Dyscalculia is similar except instead of having trouble with letters it makes people have trouble with numbers and math. Dyscalculia makes it difficult to deal with simple numbers and it makes it extremely hard to do any complicated math.
According to scientists, they may have discovered the area of the brain that's links to dyscalculia. Researchers have explained that the area of the brain known as the intraparietal sulcus (or IPS) is crucial for properly processing numerical information. This part of the brain is located toward the top and back of the brain and goes across both lobes. The IPS helps determine how many items are perceived, as opposed to how much.

To explain how these two different modes of thinking are related, researchers say to think about what it's like when a person is getting ready to check out at a store. Most people are in a hurry, we so generally head for the shortest line. Think about how you actually choose the shortest checkout line. You could count the number of people in every single line. If you do this you are thinking discretely in terms of numerosity. But you probably glance at each line quickly and pick the one that looks shortest. In this case, you are thinking in terms of continuous quantity.

These two ways of thinking are extremely similar. In fact, researchers had trouble isolating specific parts within the IPS because it's hard to distinguish between the brain's responses of how many and how much. So they created a test where people did quick estimations of quantity under functional MRI scans.

The test subjects were shown a series of blue and green flashes of light or a chessboard with green and blue rectangles. They were asked to decide if they saw more green or blue. The results showed that while subjects are shown separate colors, the brain automatically counts how many objects are there. But when they are shown either a continuous blue and green light or a blurred chessboard where the squares are no longer visible, the brain doesn't count the objects, but instead just estimates how much blue and green is there.

Scientists believe this identifies the brain activity that is specific to estimating the number of items. This is likely a brain network that underlies arithmetic and if it's abnormal in some way it could be responsible for dyscalculia.

But of course, dyscalculics can learn to count. In fact, I can count just fine. But like most people with this disorder, I am much slower than people in general when I have to say how many things are in a group. This has affected my everyday life. I've adapted as much as possible by avoiding dealing with numbers whenever possible but when I was in school I struggled a great deal with my math classes. I used to struggle with counting money too but later on, I switched to using a debit card and now I rarely deal with cash.

But something I find really interesting is that we don't just have trouble with math. Many of us also experience trouble with reading clock faces, estimating the size of something, reading maps, and even navigating. I no longer have trouble telling time but I did when I was a kid. But to this day I am horrible with directions. I can go to a place a million times but never actually remember how to get there so I have to ask people for directions or look it up on my phone.

Learning disabilities are pretty terrible. Not only do they make it hard to live your life, it's also common for people to make fun of you or assume you just aren't trying enough. I don't know how many times I've had people treat me like I was just being lazy or like I was downright stupid. I always made A's in all my classes except for math. I usually managed to pass math classes with a C but that was only because I worked my butt off to do it.

So if you know someone that is bad at something in particular (like reading or math) don't make assumptions. They could have a learning disability and unfortunately, a lot of learning disabilities go undiagnosed. So try to encourage them but also see if they are interested in getting a proper diagnosis.

References:
Phys.org. Scientists Discover the Part of the Brain That Causes Some People to Be Lousy in Math. Accessed at https://phys.org/news/2006-03-scientists-brain-people-lousy-math.html on April 4, 2018.

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