Breaking down number syntax: spared comprehension of multi-digit numbers in a patient with impaired digit-to-word conversion.

Can the meaning of two-digit Arabic numbers be accessed independently of their verbal-phonological representations? To answer this question we explored the number processing of ZN, an aphasic patient with a syntactic deficit in digit-to-verbal transcoding, who could hardly read aloud two-digit numbe...

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Published in:Cortex: A Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System & Behavior Vol. 59; pp. 62 - 74
Main Authors: Dotan, Dror, Friedmann, Naama, Dehaene, Stanislas
Format: case study research Journal Article
Published: Masson SPA 2014 Oct
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: 2014 Oct
      vid: 59
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      pub: Masson SPA
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        10.1016/j.cortex.2014.07.005
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        atl: Breaking down number syntax: spared comprehension of multi-digit numbers in a patient with impaired digit-to-word conversion.
      aug:
        au:
          Dotan, Dror
          Friedmann, Naama
          Dehaene, Stanislas
      sug:
        subj:
          Agraphia Physiopathology
          Aphasia Physiopathology
          Apraxia Physiopathology
          Readability
          Language
          Stroke Complications
          Aged
          Agraphia Etiology
          Agraphia Rehabilitation
          Aphasia Etiology
          Aphasia Rehabilitation
          Apraxia Etiology
          Apraxia Rehabilitation
          Human
          Male
          Mathematics
          Neuropsychological Tests
          Stroke Physiopathology
          Stroke Rehabilitation
          Aged: 65+ years
          Male
      ab: Can the meaning of two-digit Arabic numbers be accessed independently of their verbal-phonological representations? To answer this question we explored the number processing of ZN, an aphasic patient with a syntactic deficit in digit-to-verbal transcoding, who could hardly read aloud two-digit numbers, but could read them as single digits ("four, two"). Neuropsychological examination showed that ZN's deficit was neither in the digit input nor in the phonological output processes, as he could copy and repeat two-digit numbers. His deficit thus lied in a central process that converts digits to abstract number words and sends this information to phonological retrieval processes. Crucially, in spite of this deficit in number transcoding, ZN's two-digit comprehension was spared in several ways: (1) he could calculate two-digit additions; (2) he showed good performance in a two-digit comparison task, and a continuous distance effect; and (3) his performance in a task of mapping numbers to positions on an unmarked number line showed a logarithmic (nonlinear) factor, indicating that he represented two-digit Arabic numbers as holistic two-digit quantities. Thus, at least these aspects of number comprehension can be performed without converting the two-digit number from digits to verbal representation.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        case study
        research
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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