Cognitive Decline in Childhood or Young Adulthood

Abstract

Childhood dementias are rare, occurring at an incidence rate of 5.6/100,000 (.0056% point prevalence) (Yeates et al., Pediatric neuropsychology: research, theory and practice, Guilford, New York, 2000). Many medical disorders can contribute to deterioration in children where a previously acquired skill is lost or negatively compromised. Such diseases would technically be termed a dementia or dementing illness; however, this term is controversial in children. The term’s controversy stems from the opposing interactive forces of continued developmental progress in a child and the counter-developmental effect of ongoing or chronic illness. This controversy aside, this chapter discusses illnesses and issues of deterioration in childhood neuropsychological functioning. This is an often neglected issue in Neuropsychology and the interested reader is guided to in-depth descriptions of many of the diseases discussed found in comprehensive texts in pediatric neuropsychology (see Baron et al., Pediatric neuropsychology in the medical setting, Oxford Press, New York, 1995; Lezak et al., Neuropsychological assessment, 4th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, 2004; Yeates et al., 2000; Yeateset al., Pediatric neuropsychology: research, theory and practice, Guilford, New York, 2010. See also Heilman and Valenstein, Clinical neuropsychology, 4th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, 2003).