Anyone in the field is already aware of the important role math plays in the sciences, national security, economics and even the creative arts — areas in which mathematical modeling can help to produce a desired outcome affecting a range of people.

Perhaps few, however, suspect the power it can have on the individual human mind.

Vicki Alex has made that discovery firsthand, though.

A story in London’s “Daily Mail” newspaper recounts how Vicki, diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in September, was placed into a coma by doctors in order to fight life-threatening infection.

Doctors weren’t sure she would regain consciousness. After three days, they suggested that her parents talk to her in order to “trigger a reaction,” according to Mail Online.

Once her dad began asking simple arithmetic — her favorite subject — she began to respond.

The following day Vicki began breathing on her own.