Acalculia in vascular dementia

Number processing and calculation abilities in 20 patients with vascular de mentia (VD) were studied with the EC 301 R test battery. The patients had s ignificantly reduced EC 301 R scores, with more deterioration in calculatio n and numeral transcoding than in semantic and basic number processing. The EC 301 R-scores were significantly correlated with dementia severity as we ll as memory, language, and executive functioning. In transcoding arabic nu merals into number words, so-called "shift errors" were observed (wrong use of number code, e.g. 9011 --> 9tausendelf [German] 9thousandeleven]). This was previously only described for Alzheimer patients, pointing to attentio nal and executive deficits. These errors might be dementia specific. It is concluded that acalculia can be regarded as a common symptom of vascular de mentia and should be integrated in the diagnosis of dementia.