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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Fish help researchers trace the origins of how the brain calculates math, reports a review in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy . An international team has reviewed more than 200 publications, which together show that fish perceive quantity using parts of their brains similar to those used by mammals and birds. Research is still underway to find the specific brain circuits that enable number processing, but these findings could eventually help treat human ailments that impair math skills. “Fish is on par with other animals in terms of a sense of quantity,” said the correspondent author Prof. Giorgio Vallortigara from the University of Trento in Italy. “There are species, particularly the zebrafish, which are ideal models for studying the molecular and genetic basis of a sense of quantity. This could have important implications for neurodevelopmental diseases that affect number cognition, such as developmental dyscalc

Biology is rich in patterns. You’ll find them everywhere – from the number of petals (which generally correspond to the number in the Fibonacci sequence), to the number of vertebrae in mammals (giraffes, humans, and quokkas all have seven neck vertebrae). In fact, many viruses follow patterns and have symmetry in their shells. Mathematics is essentially the science of patterns. Patterns can be subtle. So without using math to formally explain and understand it, we can skip it entirely. For a long time, biological research has largely progressed without the sophisticated mathematical modeling that is now at the core of physics, engineering, and climate. But this is changing. Mathematical biology is a growing field that promises to revolutionize microbiology, biotechnology, evolutionary biology and healthcare. With mathematics, scientific breakthroughs that previously required years of trial and error (and tons of trash) can be achieved in a very short time. Here are some of the r