Noncommutability of the N + 0 arithmetical rule: a case study of dissociated impairment.
It has been shown that some arithmetical problems are stored in the form of individual facts representations (e.g., 3 x 4 = 12) whereas others are solved by general stored rules (e.g., 0 x N = 0). We describe the performance of a brain-damaged subject who presented a mild impairment in arithmetical fact retrieval. Although her performance was almost perfect for rule-based problems in all arithmetical operations, she was severely impaired for 0 + n problems in contrast with her relatively good performance for the corresponding n + 0 problems. This dissociation extends to addition the noncommutability of arithmetical rules described in multiplication.
Unité de Neuropsychologie Cognitive, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. pesenti@neco.ucl.ac.be
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D001037:Aphasia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed