Applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a way of enhancing brain activity using an electric current, to the right parietal cortex while simultaneously using the opposite current to subdue activity in the left parietal cortex improved the brain’s arithmetical abilities, Oxford University scientists have found.

In 2007, Roi Cohen Kadosh at the University of Oxford and colleagues pinned down the area of the brain responsible for mathematical ability to the right parietal lobe, just above the right ear.

The paper “Modulating neuronal activity produces specific and long lasting changes in numerical competence” by Roi Cohen Kadosh and colleagues was published in Current Biology November 4, 2010. The work was carried out by a team of scientists from Oxford University and University College London.