Brain morphology of children with cleft lip and/or palate

Abstract

Children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) may suffer from specific cognitive deficits in rapid verbal labeling, verbal fluency, and short‐term memory, and ~35% have a reading disability that is similar to developmental dyslexia. Two recent neuroanatomical studies reported that children with CL/P have a smaller total brain volume than their peers, with a reduced cerebellum and frontal lobe and an enlarged occipital lobe, suggesting that cognitive deficits may be related to abnormal brain structure and development. The purpose of this study was to compare the brain shape of children with cleft lip and palate (CLP), cleft palate only (CP), and matched controls (n = 26), and to determine the effect of reading disability on brain shape. We used geometric morphometrics to analyze brain shape based on cortical and subcortical landmarks (k = 15) from MR data. Significant differences were found between controls and CLPs (α < 0.05), but not between controls and CPs or CLPs and CPs using Goodall's F‐test. Shape differences in CLP brains are due primarily to reorientation of the cerebellum and lengthening of the corpus callosum. Among CPs, brain shape differs between those with and without reading disability (p < 0.0005). This study is the first to characterize brain shape in children with CL/P and to document the association of reading disability and brain shape in children with CL/P.Grant Funding Source: none