FEATURES OF DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER MENTAL FUNCTIONS IN CHILDREN WITH TUBEROUS SCLEROSIS

Abstract

Tuberous sclerosis is a polysystemic genetic disease. The features of the development of mental functions in this disease are of interest to specialists who are called upon to determine the educational, social and other needs of children with tuberous sclerosis, to provide them with the necessary medical, psychological and pedagogical support. Data of the results of the study of mental functions in children diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis are presented. A sample of subjects comprised 15 children aged 6 to 16 years, both with normal and with reduced mental development of varying severity. The diagnostic possibilities of using neuropsychological methods for this disease in childhood are considered. In all sick children a neuropsychological deficiency is revealed, which manifests itself in the lack of neurodynamic characteristics of mental activity, in the reduction of mental capacity and rate of task perfomance, exhaustion, distractibility, instability of voluntary attention. It is shown that the use of modern diagnostic techniques allows to give an objective quantitative and qualitative assessment of the development of mental functions in children with this disease.