It doesn't make any sense at all to me. It wasn't numbers as such he was having trouble with, he could still do math, he just couldn't recognize the symbols. An

It doesn't make any sense at all to me. It wasn't numbers as such he was having trouble with, he could still do math, he just couldn't recognize the symbols. And he was even able to learn symbols for numbers again,as long as they were new ones he made up himself instead of the standard symbols. It's a bizarrely specific cognitive deficit. It's not like "I can't remember your name", it's more like "I used to know your name, and I can remember this new name I've made up for you, but when you tell me your 'real' name, not only can't I remember it, I can't even make it out, it all turns to static."