The Science: Can You Seeing Numbers Game

'Can you Seeing Numbers' involves searching an array of letters and deciding if you can Seeing Numbers among them. In the reverse condition, you search an array of numbers and decide if you can see a letter among them.

This game is designed to test your ability to quickly visually identify numbers.

The ability to visually identify numbers, known as visual number recognition, is an essential building block in the development of mathematical skills.

It plays a vital role in cultivating number sense, which refers to an individual's understanding of numbers and their interrelationships.

As children progress in their mathematical learning, the ability to visually identify numbers remains essential. Whether it's performing basic arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, or tackling more advanced mathematical operations, number recognition plays a key role. It's indispensable when working with fractions, decimals, percentages, or algebraic equations.

Visual identification of numbers is typically one of the earliest mathematical skills learned in childhood. Before children can count or perform arithmetic operations, they first learn to recognize and name numbers. This foundational ability paves the way for mathematical learning and understanding.

The importance of visual number recognition extends beyond the classroom as well. In everyday life, we frequently need to recognize numbers, from reading a clock to following a recipe, checking a bank account, or interpreting data in a chart or graph.

Lastly, an individual's ability, or lack thereof, to visually recognize numbers can serve as an important indicator of potential learning difficulties.

Children who struggle with visual number recognition or who take longer to recognize numbers than their peers may be exhibiting early signs of mathematical learning difficulties or dyscalculia.

Visual Number Recognition & The Brain

The Inferior Temporal Numeral Area (ITNA) is a region of the brain that responds selectively to visually presented numerals, such as Arabic digits. It's located in the ventral visual pathway in the inferior temporal lobe which is a part of the brain involved in high-level visual processing.

The ITNA is thought to be involved in recognizing and understanding numerical symbols. When you see a written number, the ITNA activates and helps you recognize and interpret that number.

Research suggests that this area may play a crucial role in tasks that require an understanding of numerical symbols, such as arithmetic, and activity in the ITNA. is related to the development of math skills.