Fitness furor

There’s a new way for students struggling with mathematics to cope with or even excel in the subject.

A new study published Tuesday in PLOS Biology suggests that mild electrical stimulation of the brain can boost mathematics performance, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The study was based on an experiment led by Roi Cohen Kadosh, a neuroscientist at the University of Surrey. Kadosh’s team of researchers scanned the brains of 72 volunteer students from the University of Oxford to measure connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DPC), which governs executive function, and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), involved in memory.

The volunteers then answered math problems using calculation or memorized solutions. Those with stronger connections of DPC with PPC performed better, the researchers found.

Next, they applied a technique known as transcranial random noise stimulation (TRNS). The result was that the low performers saw their scores jump by 25 percent to 29 percent, according to AFP.

The team believes that TRNS enhanced the excitability of neurons and interaction with GABA, a brain chemical that inhibits excessive activity — effectively compensating for weak neural connectivity in some participants.

The use of TRNS, however, raises ethical concerns as only those who can afford it will benefit, Kadosh said.

Meanwhile, the imposition of an extracurricular activity in 14,000 state-run schools in Kerala, India as part of the government’s anti-drug campaign raised a howl of protest from Hindu and Muslim organizations that run the academic institutions.

Crying cultural invasion, Muslim clerics from the Samstha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema (SKJU) and Hindu intellectuals from Bharatiya Vichara Kendram (BVK) urged parents and teachers to boycott the fitness program, saying it goes against their religious beliefs and moral values, BBC reports.

Spokespersons of SKJU and BVK called the new curriculum vulgar, contradicts moral values, is malicious, and goes against the uniqueness of the country.

V. Sivankutty, the state’s education minister, brushed aside the concerns, saying daily Zumba lessons by competent instructors are optional for students and participants will have to wear their school uniforms, not inappropriate outfits, according to BBC.