Steph Zech graduated from high school with an admirable academic record. She especially loves chemistry, writing and literature. However, when it comes to math, Steph has struggled a lot. At age 17, she still counts on her fingers to add 3 and 5. She did recently figure out if something costs 75 cents, the change from a dollar should be 25 cents. But when asked what the change would be if the price were 70 cents, she considered for a long time before venturing, “15 cents?”
斯蒂芬•泽赫以其令人艳羡的成绩从高中毕业。她尤其热爱化学、写作和文学。然而，斯蒂芬却非常不擅长数学。17岁时，她仍要掰着手指头才能算出3加5等于多少。而她最近才知道如果用1美元去买某样75美分的东西，那么找零应该是25美分。但是当被问及如果这个东西价格是70美分，找零应为多少时？她思考了很长时间，才蒙了一个“15美分？”的答案。
There are many reasons for a student to be bad at math, including poor learning environments, attention disorders and anxiety. But Steph’s struggle is a typical example of a specific math disability known as “developmental dyscalculia (发展性计算障碍).” “A lot of people say ‘I’m not good at math’ because they couldn’t handle pre-calculus (微积分),” says cognitive neuroscientist (认知神经学家) Edward Hubbard of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “People with dyscalculia struggle to tell you whether seven is more than five.”
学生对数字不敏感的原因有许多，可能是处于糟糕的学习环境，注意力不集中，或是精神焦虑。但是斯蒂芬的数学综合症则是一种典型的发展性计算障碍。“许多人声称‘我不擅长数学’是因为他们不能解决微积分问题。”来自威斯康辛大学麦迪逊分校的认知神经学家爱德华•哈伯德说道。“而计算障碍患者却会连7和5谁大这种问题都搞不清。”
Although dyscalculia, which affects about six percent of people, is as common as the reading disorder dyslexia (阅读障碍), it is far less well-understood. According to one analysis, studies on reading disabilities outnumber those that look at math deficits 14 to 1. One reason for the difference may be the belief that the ability to read and write is more important than the skill to do basic calculations.
尽管计算障碍影响了大约6%的人群，与阅读障碍综合征一样普遍，但它却远没有后者那么广为人知。 根据一项分析显示, 针对阅读障碍的研究大约是对于数学障碍研究的14倍。对于这种差异，其中一个原因可能是人们普遍认为读写能力要比基础运算能力来的重要。
Now thanks to advances in brain imaging (脑显像) techniques, new insights into the disorder have begun to emerge. Researchers have tracked dyscalculia to a fold (褶层) in the back of the brain. This area plays an important role in the development of the number sense, an intuitive (直观的) understanding of how numbers work. Studies show that even babies have a basic sense of numbers, but some are born with number blindness, which causes trouble connecting numbers to the real world.
现如今，由于脑显像技术的发展，对于计算障碍综合征的新认知逐渐涌现。研究者们已追踪计算障碍至大脑后方的褶层。这个区域对于数字感的发展起着重要的作用，而数感正是一种对于数字如何运作的直观理解。研究显示甚至婴儿都会有一种基础的数字感，但是也有一些人天生便是数字盲，而这会对他们将数字与现实世界相联系造成困扰。