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Eur J Pediatr (2015) 174:113 DOI 10.1007/s00431-014-2455-7
REVIEW
Developmental dyscalculia
Karin Kucian & Michael von Aster
Received: 18 June 2014 /Revised: 5 November 2014 /Accepted: 9 November 2014 /Published online: 23 December 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Abstract Numerical skills are essential in our everyday life, and impairments in the development of number processing and calculation have a negative impact on schooling and professional careers. Approximately 3 to 6 % of children are affected from specific disorders of numerical understanding (developmental dyscalculia (DD)). Impaired development of number processing skills in these children is characterized by problems in various aspects of numeracy as well as alterations of brain activation and brain structure. Moreover, DD is assumed to be a very heterogeneous disorder putting special challenges to define homogeneous diagnostic criteria. Finally, interdisciplinary perspectives from psychology, neuroscience and education can contribute to the design for interventions, and although results are still sparse, they are promising and have shown positive effects on behaviour as well as brain function.
Conclusion: In the current review, we are going to give an overview about typical and atypical development of numerical abilities at the behavioural and neuronal level. Furthermore, current status and obstacles in the definition and diagnostics of
DD are discussed, and finally, relevant points that should be considered to make an intervention as successful as possible are summarized.
Keywords Developmental dyscalculia . Number processing . Calculation . Learning disability . Therapy . Learning
AbbreviationsDD Developmental dyscalculiafMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging IPS Intraparietal sulcusMRI Magnetic resonance imaging
Introduction
There is a widespread misunderstanding of the importance of numerical understanding in everyday life and a lack of appreciation of how important math learning is for young children. Numerical abilities are essential in daily routine, and they are becoming even more crucial with the increasing role of technology in contemporary society. Low numeracy skills have a negative impact on the employment prospects and mental and physical health of individuals and on the economic status of countries [37, 72]. Importantly, profound difficulties with numeracy are very common with a prevalence rate between 3 and 6 % [52, 89]. Despite the relatively high occurrence of specific numerical learning disorders, only few research projects focus on this clearly high-priority area. It is important to gain...