Acalculia

Acalculia

SignSymptom infobox
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ICD10 = ICD10|R|48|8|r|47
ICD9 = ICD9|784.69
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Acalculia (not to be confused with dyscalculia), from the Greek "a" meaning "not" and Latin "calculare", which means "to count", is an acquired impairment in which patients have difficulty performing simple mathematical tasks, such as adding, subtracting, multiplying and even simply stating which of two numbers is larger. Acalculia is distinguished from dyscalculia in that acalculia is acquired late in life due to neurological injury such as stroke, while dyscalculia is a specific developmental disorder first observed during the acquisition of mathematical knowledge.

Variations

Acalculia is associated with lesions of the parietal lobe (especially the angular gyrus) and the frontal lobe and can be an early sign of dementia. Acalculia is sometimes observed as a "pure" deficit, but is commonly observed as one of a constellation of symptoms, including agraphia, finger agnosia and left-right confusion, after damage to the left angular gyrus, known as Gerstmann's syndrome (Gerstmann, 1940; Mayer et al., 1999).

Studies of patients with lesions to the parietal lobe have demonstrated that lesions to the angular gyrus tend to lead to greater impairments in memorized mathematical facts, such as multiplication tables, with relatively unimpaired subtraction abilities. Conversely, patients with lesions in the region of the intraparietal sulcus tend to have greater deficits in subtraction, with preserved multiplication abilities (Dehaene and Cohen, 1997). These double dissociations lend support to the idea that different regions of the parietal cortex are involved in different aspects of numerical processing.

ee also

* Gerstmann's syndrome
* Numerical cognition

References

* "Acalculia." Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 27th ed. (2000). ISBN 0-683-40007-X
* Dehaene, S., & Cohen, L. (1997). Cerebral pathways for calculation: Double dissociation between rote verbal and quantitative knowledge of arithmetic. "Cortex", 33(2), 219-250.
* Gerstmann, J. (1940). Syndrome of finger agnosia, disorientation for right and left, agraphia, acalculia. "Archives of Neurology and Psychology" 44, 398–408.
* Mayer, E. et al. (1999). A pure case of Gerstmann syndrome with a subangular lesion. "Brain" 122, 1107–1120.


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • acalculia — /ay kal kyooh lee euh/, n. Psychiatry. inability or loss of the ability to perform arithmetic operations. [ < NL, equiv. to a A 6 + calcul (see CALCULATE) + ia IA] * * * …   Universalium

  • acalculia — noun /ˌeɪkælˈkjuːlɪə/ The condition of lacking basic mathematical skills. See Also: dyscalculia …   Wiktionary

  • acalculia — A form of aphasia characterized by the inability to perform simple mathematical problems; found with lesions of various areas of the cerebral hemispheres, and often an early sign of dementia. [G. a priv. + L. calculo, to reckon] * * * acal·cu·lia …   Medical dictionary

  • acalculia — É™kl kjuːljÉ™ n. inability to do mathematical calculations …   English contemporary dictionary

  • acalculia — [ˌeɪkal kju:lɪə] noun Medicine loss of the ability to perform simple calculations, as a result of brain injury or disease. Origin 1920s: from a 1 + L. calculare calculate + ia1 …   English new terms dictionary

  • acalculia — acal·cu·lia …   English syllables

  • acalculia — n. an acquired inability to make simple mathematical calculations. It is a symptom of disease in the parietal lobe of the brain. See: Gerstmann s syndrome …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • acalculia — ˌāˌkalˈkyülēə noun ( s) Etymology: New Latin, from a (II) + Late Latin calculare to calculate + New Latin ia more at calculate : lack or loss of the ability to perform simple arithmetical tasks …   Useful english dictionary

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