https://www.pisavisionlab.org Research centre dedicated to frontier, interdisciplinary research of human perception Sat, 07 Sep 2024 13:21:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.13 https://www.pisavisionlab.org/2024/09/07/neurocognitive-assessment-of-mathematics-related-capacities-in-neurosurgical-patients/ Sat, 07 Sep 2024 13:18:07 +0000 https://www.pisavisionlab.org/?p=4938 Brain Sciences, 14(1) A precise neuropsychological assessment is of the utmost importance for neurosurgical patients undergoing the surgical excision of cerebral lesions. The assessment of mathematical abilities is usually limited to arithmetical operations while other fundamental visuo-spatial aspects closely linked to mathematics proficiency, such as the perception of numerical quantities and geometrical reasoning, are completely neglected. We evaluated these abilities with two objective and reproducible psychophysical tests, measuring numerosity perception and non-symbolic geometry, respectively. We tested sixteen neuro-oncological patients before the operation and six after the operation with classical neuropsychological tests and with two psychophysical tests. The scores of the classical neuropsychological tests were very heterogeneous, possibly due to the distinct location and histology of the tumors that might have spared (or not) brain areas subserving these abilities or allowed for plastic reorganization. Performance in the two non-symbolic tests reflected, on average, the presumed functional role of the lesioned areas, with participants with parietal and frontal lesions performing worse on these tests than patients with occipital and temporal lesions. Single-case analyses not only revealed some interesting exceptions to the group-level results (e.g., patients with parietal lesions performing well in the numerosity test), but also indicated that performance in the two tests was independent of non-verbal reasoning and visuo-spatial working memory. Our results highlight the importance of assessing non-symbolic numerical and geometrical abilities to complement typical neuropsychological batteries. However, they also suggest an avoidance of reliance on an excessively rigid localizationist approach when evaluating the neuropsychological profile of oncological patients. Castaldi, E., Bonaudo, C., Maduli, G., Anobile, G., Pedone, A., Capelli, F., Arrighi, R., & Della Puppa, A https://www.pisavisionlab.org/2024/09/07/neurocognitive-assessment-of-mathematics-related-capacities-in-neurosurgical-patients/brainsci-14-00069/https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14010069 https://www.pisavisionlab.org/2024/09/07/auditory-time-perception-impairment-in-children-with-developmental-dyscalculia/ Sat, 07 Sep 2024 13:20:51 +0000 https://www.pisavisionlab.org/?p=4941 Research in Developmental Disabilities, 149, 104733 Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a specific learning disability which prevents children from acquiring adequate numerical and arithmetical competences. We investigated whether difficulties in children with DD spread beyond the numerical domain and impact also their ability to perceive time. A group of 37 children/adolescent with and without DD were tested with an auditory categorization task measuring time perception thresholds in the sub-second (0.25–1 s) and supra-second (0.75–3 s) ranges. Results showed that auditory time perception was strongly impaired in children with DD at both time scales. The impairment remained even when age, non-verbal reasoning, and gender were regressed out. Overall, our results show that the difficulties of DD can affect magnitudes other than numerical and contribute to the increasing evidence that frames dyscalculia as a disorder affecting multiple neurocognitive and perceptual systems. Castaldi, E., Tinelli, F., Filippo, G., Bartoli, M., & Anobile, G. https://www.pisavisionlab.org/2024/09/07/auditory-time-perception-impairment-in-children-with-developmental-dyscalculia/1-s2-0-s0891422224000659-main/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104733