Patterns of linguistic and numerical performance in aphasia

BACKGROUND: Empirical research on the relationship between linguistic and numerical processing revealed inconsistent results for different levels of cognitive processing (e.g., lexical, semantic) as well as different stimulus materials (e.g., Arabic digits, number words, letters, non-number words). Information of dissociation patterns in aphasic patients was used in order to investigate the dissociability of linguistic and numerical processes. The aim of the present prospective study was a comprehensive, specific, and systematic investigation of relationships between linguistic and numerical processing, considering the impact of asemantic vs. semantic processing and the type of material employed (numbers compared to letters vs. words). METHODS: A sample of aphasic patients (n = 60) was assessed with a battery of linguistic and numerical tasks directly comparable for their cognitive processing levels (e.g., perceptual, morpho-lexical, semantic). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Mean performance differences and frequencies of (complementary) dissociations in individual patients revealed the most prominent numerical advantage for asemantic tasks when comparing the processing of numbers vs. letters, whereas the least numerical advantage was found for semantic tasks when comparing the processing of numbers vs. words. Different patient subgroups showing differential dissociation patterns were further analysed and discussed. A comprehensive model of linguistic and numerical processing should take these findings into account. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12993-014-0049-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.