Mar 19, 2008
Brain Teaser: Boost your visuospatial skills
Boost your visuospatial skills and learn about your brain
– By Dr. Pascale Michelon
Visuospatial skills are used everyday in many ways, ranging from going from one room to another in your house to solving a jigsaw puzzle and navigating in a new city. 
One specific visuospatial skill has to do with moving spatial information around in your head. It is called mental rotation.
Let’s take an example. Can you picture in your head an arrow pointing to the right? Now, turn this arrow so it points to the left. Done?
You have just performed a mental rotation! People use this ability when they read maps, use tools, play chess, arrange furniture, drive in traffic, etc.
Mental rotation relies mostly on the parietal areas of your brain (orange section in the brain image above).
Here is a brain exercise to stimulate your mental rotation skill.
For each number, decide whether it is a normal or reversed number (see example below).
Note: NO FLIPS allowed!
Answers
Row 1: normal, reversed, reversed
Row 2: normal, normal, reversed
Row 3: normal, reversed, reversed
— This article was written by Pascale Michelon, Ph. D., for SharpBrains.com. Copyright 2008. Dr. Michelon has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and has worked as a Research Scientist at Washington University in Saint Louis, in the Psychology Department. She conducted several research projects to understand how the brain makes use of visual information and memorizes facts. She is now an Adjunct Faculty at Washington University, and teaches Memory Workshops in numerous retirement communities in the St Louis area.
For more exercises, check out our Brain Teasers section.
I don’t believe that the five in the first row is normal, it is reversed.
I agree that the five in the first row is reversed.
It’s quite elementary, just reference your number pad.
745
257
424
As one can see the 5 is incorrectly answered.
The five in the first row is definitley not reversed. Its normal, just flipped upside down. Not reversed.…
to kimberly:
Note: NO FLIPS allowed!
the “five” in the first row, if dragged over the “five” in the second row would be of opposite handedness.
They cannot both be “normal” or unreversed.
The first few commenters were perfectly correct.
“-“
dash
the 5 is definately reversed
Hi guys,
The 5 in the first row is indeed reversed!!!
I am glad you noticed that. And it made you guys think twice as much: good brain workout!
the “5” in first row is definitely reversed. OK, no “flips” allowed? It IS upside down, draw it as is, the flip it RIGHT side up—it is reversed.
Someone needs to work on their visuospatial skills… especially on rotating numbers like 5 and stuff… =-P
Pascale: thanks for designing such an stimulating teaser with non-obvious twists…what additional brain area did we help commenters exercise
Nate: indeed, humor and accepting one’s need to work on things are Number #1 and #2 requirement in brain fitness…
the five has got to be reversed
*
is it an abnormal ‘2’ ???
Given the mysterious orientation of the five… I’m thinkin’ Pascale took the “Tease” in “Brain Teaser” rather literally!
I think the answers showing that the 5 was normal was an error on Pascale’s part. Until several people made comments about it, there was no reply from Pascale. ???
Nice game, having not trained my brain a long I really some exercise.
the 5 is reversed.
Come on, Pascale! How could you?
Over the past couple years, I’ve learned to write upside-down (180 degree rotation) right-to-left to help students who are sitting down facing me.
Try it out!
I had to stand on my head, then hold a mirror up to the monitor, then go around behind the monitor to realize that that renegade 5 is indeed reversed. This one proved to be more than just a brain exercise!
Sammy, indeed, physical and mental exercise go best together
I agree with a lot of you, the 5 in the first row is reversed… You can check it copying it in a paper and then turning it around…
BOTH the 4 and 5 are reversed in the first row. The 7 is okay. This must be a test to see how many people are paying attention.
5 is rotated for 180 degrees
The 5 in the first row is reversed. The 5 in the second row is normal. Compare the both and find the answer.
five in first row is reversed
So…when is the website going to be fixed to reflect the correct answer? This has been going on since March. It’s now November. ;^)
We had assumed readers would see Pascale’s correction in the Comments section…but clearly that didn’t do the trick, so we have corrected the answer itself. Thank you.
Flipping is the measure of whether the thing is reversed. If it has to be flipped (and then possibly rotated also) for it to appear normal then it is reversed. If it can simply be rotated within the two dimensions that it is presented in then it is normal. So when she says, “no flipping”, it is almost an entrenched joke because it is a limitation on how many dimensions you are allowed to manipulate in order to solve the problem. Personally it is easier for me to flip than it is to rotate so I solve it by flipping (unless the letter is oriented just right, then it is easier to rotate). Rotation works fine and is a two dimensional solution. I think that the inclusion of flipping makes it more interesting as long as you watch yourself rotating or flipping and notice your minds tendency to take the path of least resistance, but I have always thought that watching the problem solver solve the problem is vastly more interesting than the problem itself.
(Just thoughts, enjoy!)
None are normal. They may not be a perfect reversal, but, none are a perfect normal.