White matter microarchitecture and structural network integrity correlate with children intelligence quotient

BackgroundChildren born preterm and/or small for gestational age (SGA) are at increased risk of poor cognitive outcomes, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine the cognitive and academic deficits during the school-age years in children born preterm or SGA compared with those in children born term adequate for gestational age (AGA) in rural Vietnam. MethodsChildren born to women in a preconception micronutrient supplementation trial in Vietnam were classified into 3 groups: preterm AGA (n =138), term SGA (n =169), and term AGA (n = 1134). Cognitive abilities were assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, measuring 4 domains [verbal comprehension index (VCI), perceptual reasoning index (PRI), working memory index (WMI), and processing speed index (PSI) scores] and full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) at 6–7 and 10–11 y. Academic achievement was assessed with mathematic and language tests. Analysis of variance and multiple regression models were used to analyze differences in cognitive function and academic achievement at 6–7 and 10–11 y by birth phenotypes. ResultsCompared with term AGA children, those born SGA had lower cognitive scores at both 6–7 y (VCI, −2.3; PRI, −3.7; PSI −2.1; and FSIQ, −2.9) and 10–11 y (VCI, −3.7; PRI, −3.5; WMI, −2.7; PSI, −1.9; and FSIQ, −3.9). Children born SGA also had poorer academic achievement with lower language (5.3) and mathematic (2.5) scores. Adjustments for maternal factors and home environment attenuated the associations, but the differences in VCI, PRI, FSIQ, and language at 10–11 y remained significant. There were no differences in cognitive function and academic achievement between children born preterm and AGA. ConclusionsOur findings highlight the enduring association of birth phenotype on cognitive functioning and academic achievement during the school years, despite adjustments for maternal education and family environment. Further research is needed to implement effective interventions to improve birth outcomes and optimize child health and development in LMICs.The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01665378 (URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01665378).

OBJECTIVE To study the intellectual characteristics of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental dyslexia (DD). METHODS A total of 55 children with ADHD and DD (ADHD+DD group), 150 children with ADHD alone (ADHD group), and 22 children with DD alone (DD group) were enrolled as subjects. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) was used to evaluate and compare intellectual characteristics among the three groups. RESULTS There were significant differences in the scores of full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ), verbal comprehension index, perceptual reasoning index, and working memory index among the three groups (P < 0.05):the ADHD+DD group had significantly lower scores of FSIQ, verbal comprehension index, perceptual reasoning index, and working memory index than the ADHD group, as well as a significantly lower FSIQ score than the DD group. A comparison of the 10 core subtests in WISC-IV showed that compared with the ADHD group, the ADHD+DD group had significantly lower scores of similarities, vocabulary, comprehension, recitation, picture concepts, matrix reasoning, and letter-number sequencing (P < 0.05). Compared with the DD group, the ADHD+DD group had significantly lower scores of vocabulary, similarities, picture concepts, matrix reasoning, and recitation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Compared with the children with ADHD alone, the children with ADHD and DD have more severe impairment of FSIQ, verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, and working memory, and therefore, it is suggested to enhance the training on similarities, vocabulary, matrix reasoning, picture concepts, and recitation for children with ADHD and DD in clinical practice.

Introduction: This study aims to use diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in conjunction with brain graph techniques to define brain structural connectivity and investigate its association with personal income (PI) in individuals of various ages and intelligence quotients (IQ). Methods: MRI examinations were performed on 55 male subjects (mean age: 40.1 ± 9.4 years). Graph data and metrics were generated, and DTI images were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). All subjects underwent the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale for a reliable estimation of the full-scale IQ (FSIQ), which includes verbal comprehension index, perceptual reasoning index, working memory index, and processing speed index. The performance score was defined as the monthly PI normalized by the age of the subject. Results: The analysis of global graph metrics showed that modularity correlated positively with performance score (p = 0.003) and negatively with FSIQ (p = 0.04) and processing speed index (p = 0.005). No significant correlations were found between IQ indices and performance scores. Regional analysis of graph metrics showed modularity differences between right and left networks in sub-cortical (p = 0.001) and frontal (p = 0.044) networks. TBSS analysis showed greater axial and mean diffusivities in the high-performance group in correlation with their modular brain organization. Conclusion: This study showed that PI performance is strongly correlated with a modular organization of brain structural connectivity, which implies short and rapid networks, providing automatic and unconscious brain processing. Additionally, the lack of correlation between performance and IQ suggests a reduced role of academic reasoning skills in performance to the advantage of high uncertainty decision-making networks.

The present study aimed to investigate the test-retest reliability of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth edition (WISC-IV) in a sample of 138 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from a child psychiatric clinic in Tokyo, Japan. The stability coefficient of the Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ), which is composed of four indices, was very high at .83, while those of the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working Memory Index (WMI), and Processing Speed Index (PSI) individually were moderate to high, ranging from .62 to .79. Comparisons among three age groups revealed that the coefficients for children aged 5 to 7 years tended to be lower than those for children aged 11 years and older. With respect to relative strengths and weaknesses between index scores, approximately half of children did not exhibit the same trend in the second test. These results revealed that the FSIQ and index scores are stable in the long term in children with ASD aged 11 years and older, and that the PSI and discrepancies in index scores are less stable. Thus, practitioners should take into account ecological information and the test-taking behaviors of children when interpreting WISC-IV results for children with ASD. Abbreviations: ASD: autism spectrum disorder; WISC-IV: wechsler intelligence scale for children – fourth edition; FSIQ: full scale intelligence quotient; VCI: verbal comprehension index; PRI: perceptual reasoning index; WMI: working memory index; PSI: processing speed index

Background: There has been an extensive debate about a potential association between intelligence and social cognition. In this study, we aimed to assess the association between social cognition as measured with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET) and intelligence as measured with the fourth edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) in children and adolescents diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS).Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 84 children diagnosed with AS aged 6–16 years (mean = 11.64; standard deviation = 2.75; 92.9% males). We analyzed the association between RMET performance and WISC-IV total score as well as the association between RMET performance and each of the four WISC-IV indexes (processing speed index, PSI; working memory index, WMI; perceptual reasoning index, PRI, and verbal comprehension index, VCI).Results: We found a positive correlation between RMET performance and full-scale intelligence quotient (r = 0.340; p < 0.01), VCI (r = 0.310; p < 0.01), PRI (r = 0.401; p < 0.01), and WMI (r = 0.292; p < 0.01). In the linear regression model, age was a significant predictor of RMET score (β = 0.409; p < 0.001) as was PRI (β = 0.309; p = 0.019).Conclusion: Our results suggest that intelligence quotient positively influences RMET performance, indicating that intelligence increases social cognition in individuals diagnosed with AS. However, weak-to-moderate size effects were found. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms underlying the disturbance of social cognition in children and adolescents diagnosed with AS.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of intellectual function of children whose mother had thyroid dysfunction, as well as children with hypothyroidism. Methods: A total of 47 children aged five to seven, who were referred to the center for developmental evaluation at the national child health and development in Tokyo, Japan, were included in this study. The children were divided into two groups: Group A, children with euthyroidism whose mothers had thyroid dysfunction; Group B, children with hypothyroidism. For each group, unpaired t-test was conducted by comparing with the scores of the Japanese version of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children-fourth edition (WISC-IV). Results: There were 26 children in Group A, 21 in Group B. The scores of Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ), Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working Memory Index (WMI) and Processing Speed Index (PSI) by WISC-IV were significantly higher in Group A than Group B (FSIQ, VCI; P < 0.01, PRI, WMI, PSI; P < 0.05). Conclusions: There were differences in intellectual function between the children with hypothyroidism and the children who did not have low thyroid hormone level. Low level of thyroid hormone during the neonatal period may be important for intellectual development.

To study the difference in cognitive impairment between the children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECT) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and those with BECT or ADHD alone. A prospective study was performed on 80 children with BECT and ADHD, 91 children with BECT, and 70 children with ADHD , who were diagnosed with the diseases for the first time. Seventy children of the same age who underwent physical examination were enrolled as the healthy control group. Event-related potential P300, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, and integrated visual and auditory continuous performance test were used to measure and compare each index between groups. Compared with the healthy control group, the BECT+ADHD group, the BECT group, and the ADHD group had a significantly prolonged P300 latency, a significant reduction in the amplitude of P300, and significant reductions in the scores of verbal comprehension index (VCI), perceptual reasoning index (PRI), working memory index (WMI), processing speed index (PSI), full scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ), auditory response control quotient (ARCQ), visual response control quotient, full response control quotient (FRCQ), auditory attention quotient (AAQ), visual attention quotient, and full attention quotient (P<0.05). Compared with the BECT group, the BECT+ADHD group had a significantly prolonged P300 latency, a significant reduction in the amplitude of P300, and significant reductions in the scores of VCI, PRI, WMI, PSI, FSIQ, and FRCQ (P<0.05). Compared with the ADHD group, the BECT+ADHD group had a significantly prolonged P300 latency, a significant reduction in the amplitude of P300, and significant reductions in the scores of VCI, PRI, FSIQ, ARCQ, FRCQ, and AAQ (P<0.05). Compared with the children with BECT or ADHD alone, the children with both BECT and ADHD have basically the same fields of cognitive impairment but a higher degree of cognitive impairment in some fields.

Prenatal exposure to ambient PM2.5 and its chemical constituents and child intelligence quotient at 6 years of age

Prenatal Micronutrient Supplementation Is Not Associated with Intellectual Development of Young School-Aged Children1–3

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prenatal and postnatal malnutrition on the intellectual functioning of early school-aged children. We followed the offspring of women who had participated in a trial of prenatal supplementation with different combinations of micronutrients and who remained resident in the study field. We measured their intellectual functioning using the Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC-IV). Height-for-age, weight-for-age, and body mass index (BMI)-for-age were used as anthropometric nutritional status indices. Four of the 5 composite scores derived from the WISC-IV, except for working memory index (WMI), were significantly lower in low birth weight children after adjusting for confounds. All 5 composite scores, including full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ), verbal comprehension index (VCI), WMI, perceptual reasoning index (PRI), and processing speed index (PSI) were significant lower in stunted and underweight children. The differences in the means of WISC-IV test scores were greatest between stunted and nonstunted children. The means for FSIQ, VCI, WMI, PRI, and PSI were as follows: 5.88 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.84–8.92), 5.08 (95% CI: 1.12–8.41), 4.71 (95% CI: 1.78–7.66), 6.13 (95% CI: 2.83–9.44), and 5.81 (95% CI: 2.61–9.00). These means were lower in stunted children after adjusting for confounds. Our results suggest the important influences of low birth weight and postnatal malnutrition (stunting, low body weight) on intellectual functioning in early school-aged children.

To evaluate the long-term cognitive function in children treated with intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) for retinopathy of prematurity(ROP), and the impact of IVR on the growth and ocular development. In this retrospective study, the premature children aged 4 to 9years who received monotherapy of IVR (IVR group, n = 25) or monotherapy of laser photocoagulation (LP) (LP group, n = 33) for ROP, and the same age premature children with no ROP (Control group, n = 26) were enrolled from 2020 to 2022 in the pediatric fundus clinic of Shenzhen Eye Hospital. Main outcome measures were full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) and index score using the Chinese version of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children-fourth edition (WISC-IV) and Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence-fourth edition (WPPSI-IV). All children were examined and analyzed for growth and ocular development by recording the height, weight, head circumference, spherical equivalent (SE), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and axial length (AL). There were 17 children in IVR group, 17 in LP group, and 11 in Control group who received the WISC-IV assessment. There were no significant differences in FSIQ, verbal comprehension index, perceptual reasoning index, working memory index, processing speed index, general ability index and cognitive efficiency index among the three groups. There were 8 children in IVR group, 16 in LP group, and 15 in Control group who received the WPPSI-IV assessment. There were no significant differences in FSIQ, verbal comprehension index, visuospatial index, fluid reasoning index, working memory index, non-verbal index, general ability index and cognitive efficiency index among the three groups. There was no significant difference in BCVA among the three groups (P = 0.74), however, there is an increase for AL in IVR group when compared with LP group (22.60 ± 0.58 vs. 22.13 ± 0.84, P = 0.003), and the ROP patients of IVR group have a significant increase in the AL compared to the Control group(22.60 ± 0.58 vs. 22.03 ± 0.71, P < 0.0001). Children with a history of IVR have a similar cognitive function outcomes compared to those with a history of LP or were premature without ROP. ROP children with a history of IVR has longer AL than those treated with LP.

The purpose of this preliminary study is to evaluate if there is a difference between the intelligence quotient (IQ) of 27 adolescent defendants referred to the Bellevue Hospital Center Forensic Psychiatry Clinic after committing violent crimes, and those adolescents in the same age group in the general population of the United States, as defined by the norms of the psychometric testing instrument Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition (WISC-IV). The IQ scores and sub-scores were compared to IQ scores of the general population (mean = 100, SD = 15) using a Z-test. The mean for the Full Scale IQ was 82.93. The means for the subtests which include Processing Speed Index, Perceptual Reasoning Index, Verbal Comprehension Index, and Working Memory Index, were: 78.48, 87.78, 86.70 (p < 0.05), and 90.78 (p = 0.09) respectively. There is a statistically significant difference in the IQ scores of the violent juveniles studied when compared to the general population.

ABSTRACTObjectives: To evaluate neuropsychological outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its association with trauma severity and late magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings.Methods: Prospective cohort study of patients with TBI admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit over 5 years. Trauma severity was determined by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), neurological outcome by King’s Outcome Scale for Childhood Head Injury (KOSCHI) and neuropsychological outcome by Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition.Results: Twenty-five children (median age 6 years at trauma) were included. Patients were divided into Disability (DIS)(n = 10) and Good Recovery (GR)(n = 15) groups. Initial GCS score was not significantly different in both groups (median 6 vs. 10; p = 0.34). DIS group had lower values ​​of working memory index (WMI)(median 74 vs. 94; p = 0.004), perceptual reasoning index (PRI)(75 vs. 96; p = 0.03), verbal comprehension index (VCI)(65 vs. 84; p = 0.02), processing speed index (PSI)(74 vs. 97; p = 0.01) and full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ)(65 vs. 87; p = 0.008). In the GR group, 60% of patients had normal or minimally altered MRI versus 10% of patients in the DIS group (p = 0.018). Fractional anisotropy positively correlated with WMI(r = 0.65; p = 0.005), PRI(r = 0.52; p = 0.03) and FSIQ(r = 0.50; p = 0.04).Conclusions: Neuropsychological impairment was observed in 40% of children who suffered a TBI and was associated with late MRI abnormalities.

The relationship between juvenile delinquency and psychometric intelligence is supported by studies in behavioral sciences. In this literature, lower verbal ability is reported as an intellectual characteristic that is common in juvenile delinquents, based on assessment using the Wechsler scales. These scales incorporate the dual intelligence model, which includes both a Verbal Intelligence Quotient (VIQ) and a Performance IQ (PIQ). A meta-analysis conducted by Isen (2010) analyzed 131 studies to examine the discrepancy between PIQ and VIQ on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), WISC-R, and WISC-III among antisocial adolescents and children. The results revealed that the PIQ score of antisocial individuals was six points higher than their VIQ score in adolescents, and did not differ significantly from their VIQ score in young children. The lowest subtests were Vocabulary and Information on the WISC for delinquent adolescents. The most current version of the Wechsler series test (i.e., WISC-IV) was excluded from the meta-analysis because the WISC-IVadopted the four factors model instead of the traditional dual intelligence model. A few researchers have studied the intelligence of populations with criminal histories using the WISC-IV (e.g., Lopez-Leon and Rosner 2010; Sinclair et al. 2013). Lopez-Leon and Rosner (2010) examined the evaluation of clinical history in 27 adolescent defendants after committing violent crimes. Their cognitive abilities were assessed using the WISC-IV. The Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) and four composite scores of the defendants were compared with the norm of the standardization sample (M=100, SD=15). Results showed that violent juveniles had lower scores on the FSIQ (M=82.9), a score of 78.5 on the Processing Speed Index (PSI), a Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) score of 87.8, and a Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) score of 86.7. However, there was no difference when comparing the defendants to the standardized sample on the Working Memory Index (WMI; M=90.8). Perhaps, these results were due to the low statistical power of only 27 participants. In another study, Sinclair et al. (2013) investigated the relationship among neuropsychological deficits, antisocial behavior, and intelligence using the WISC-IV. Participants were 28 adolescents and children between 9 Asian Criminology (2014) 9:323–328 DOI 10.1007/s11417-014-9195-5

Association of multi-metals exposure with intelligence quotient score of children: A prospective cohort study