title: "I know your name, but not your number"--Patients with verbal short-term memory deficits are impaired in learning sequences of digits.
abstract: Studies on verbal learning in patients with impaired verbal short-term memory (vSTM) have revealed dissociations among types of verbal information. Patients with impaired vSTM are able to learn lists of known words but fail to acquire new word forms. This suggests that vSTM is involved in new word learning. The present study assessed both new word learning and the learning of digit sequences in two patients with impaired vSTM. In two experiments, participants were required to learn people's names, ages and professions, or their four digit 'phone numbers'. The STM patients were impaired on learning unknown family names and phone numbers, but managed to acquire other verbal information. In contrast, a patient with a severe verbal episodic memory impairment was impaired across information types. These results indicate verbal STM involvement in the learning of digit sequences.
authors.affiliation: Neurologische Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: tobias.bormann@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bormann
authors.affiliation: Psycholinguistik, Universität Erfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Margret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seyboth
authors.affiliation: Neurologische Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Germany; "BrainLinks BrainTools" Exzellenzcluster, Universität Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Roza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Umarova
authors.affiliation: Neurologische Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Germany; "BrainLinks BrainTools" Exzellenzcluster, Universität Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Cornelius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weiller
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009275:Names; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012660:Semantics; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Digit sequences; Episodic memory; Learning; Verbal short-term memory; Verbal working memory