A recent study has revealed that the mere prospect of a mathematical problem can cause pain centers to turn on in the brains of those with a phobia of numbers. Researchers from the University of Chicago conducted a study involving 28 adults, 14 of whom had been identified as having high math anxiety and 14 with low math anxiety. The results showed that when people with high math anxiety saw a visual signal indicating a mathematical problem, their brains experienced a surge of activity in areas associated with the perception of pain, such as the dorsoposterior peninsula and the middle cingulate cortex. Interestingly, levels of math anxiety were not associated with brain activity in the insula or any other neural region when volunteers were actually doing math problems.
However, when they were anticipating a math problem, the parts of the brain related to pain lit up like a pinball machine. The dorsoposterior insula and the middle cingulate cortex are parts of the brain that are associated with the experience of pain. The study also found that math anxiety can begin as early as first grade and that elementary school teachers often transmit their own math anxiety to their students. This suggests that for people with math anxiety, a painful sense of dread can begin long before they even sit down to take a math test.
These findings demonstrate that mathematics is not an innate response but rather a recent cultural invention. It is therefore unlikely that an evolutionary mechanism will drive a response to neuronal pain triggered by the prospect of doing mathematics. The research conducted by the University of Chicago has shed light on how math anxiety can cause physical pain in some individuals. It is important to note, however, that this does not mean that everyone who struggles with mathematics will experience physical pain when faced with a mathematical problem.
