The “Where” and “What” in Developmental Dyscalculia

Abstract

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a congenital deficit that affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Individuals with DD have problems learning standard number facts and procedures. Estimates of the prevalence rate of DD are similar to those of developmental dyslexia. Recent reports and discussions suggest that those with DD suffer from specific deficits (e.g., subitizing, comparative judgment). Accordingly, DD has been described as a domain-specific disorder that involves particular brain areas (e.g., intra-parietal sulcus). However, we and others have found that DD is characterized by additional deficiencies and may be affected by domain-general (e.g., attention) factors. Hence “pure DD” might be rather rare and not as pure as one would think. We suggest that the heterogeneity of symptoms that commonly characterize learning disabilities needs to be taken into account in future research and treatment.

Keywords:

• Developmental dyscalculia
• Learning disabilities
• Numerical cognition

Acknowledgments

Sarit Ashkenazi is now at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, U.S.A.

This work was carried out as part of the research in the Center for the Neurocognitive Basis of Numerical Cognition, supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant 1664/08) in the framework of their Centers of Excellence.