Neuropsychological Assessment Of Children Research Articles

Neuropsychological assessment in children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Neuropsychological assessment in children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Neurodevelopmental assessments used to measure preschoolers' cognitive development in Latin America: a systematic review.

The objective of this study was to systematically review the standardized neurodevelopmental assessments used to study preschool-aged children's cognitive development in Spanish-speaking Latin America. The authors systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and ERIC databases for peer-reviewed articles from Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. Articles were included if they measured cognitive development among children aged 2-6 years using at least one standardized assessment tool; 97 articles were included and reviewed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to assess their use of these tools. Ninety-seven studies across 13 countries used a total of 41 assessments to measure cognitive development; most widely used were the Wechsler intelligence scales (n = 46/97), particularly the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (n = 23 and 29, respectively). Other common assessments included the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (n = 9), Raven's Progressive Matrices (n = 9), Child Neuropsychological Assessment (n = 8), and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (n = 7). In regions where normative data for a given assessment were unpublished, authors commonly used norms from the United States, Mexico, or Spain or did not report standard scores in their analyses. The wide range of tools used in these studies presents a challenge for generalizing results when measuring the neurodevelopment of Latin American preschool-aged children. The low availability of normative data for specific regions reveals concerns if some tools are culturally and linguistically appropriate even when Spanish is a common language, particularly in low-resource settings. Future work to forge greater consistency in the use of validated measures, clarity in reporting research methods, and publication of regional normative data would benefit the field.

Funções neuropsicológicas de escolares na reabertura das escolas brasileiras na pandemia da Covid-19

ABSTRACT Purpose The objective of this study was analyzed the neuropsychological functions of students from a public school in Brazil, enrolled in the 1st and 2nd year of Elementary School at the time of the reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and to access the influence of family and contextual information on the performance of these skills. Methods 117 students participated in the study, as well as their parents or guardians. The children were evaluated in person using the Brief Child Neuropsychological Assessment Instrument (NEUPSILIN-Inf). The parents/guardians answered remotely the Inventory of Resources of the Family Environment and questions about socioeconomic classification and maternal education. Results The data showed a high prevalence of children who had problems or deficits in the functions of orientation, memory, language, visuospatial skills, arithmetic skills and verbal fluency. Furthermore, predictable activities that signal some degree of stability in family life are predictors of children's performance in orientation skills and resources that promote proximal processes significantly reflect on language performance. The results suggest that children included in families with a household income below one Brazilian minimum monthly salary presented poorer inhibitory control performances. Conclusion The impact of changes in neuropsychological skills in children's learning were presented and discussed, highlighting the need for immediate and targeted intervention of these functions. Contextual factors that influenced the performance of neuropsychological skills were also considered.

Clustering and Switching in Semantic Verbal Fluency: Their Development and Relationship with Word Productivity in Typically Developing Greek-Speaking Children and Adolescents.

Performance in semantic verbal fluency (SVF) tasks, mainly measured by the number of words of a particular semantic category produced within a limited time, is a widely accepted measure of cognitive functioning used in the neuropsychological assessment of children and adults. Two strategic processes, Clustering and Switching (C&S) have been proposed to underlie fluency processes and affect performance in the task. However, few studies have reported on the development of those cognitive strategies and their relationship with word productivity in typically developing children. Even fewer studies have covered a broad developmental period from preschool to adolescence or measured the effect of contextual factors in this relationship. Based on a sample of 472 typically developing Greek-speaking children aged 4;0 to 16;11 years, we investigated the development of SVF performance and reported on the degree to which it is affected by C&S strategies, children's sex, and level of parental education. Results revealed a large effect of age on word productivity and on the use of C&S strategies. Two switching factors (number of clusters and number of switches) and two clustering factors (mean cluster size and a novel measure, maximum cluster size), appeared to be significantly associated with word productivity, with the largest effect being attributed to the two switching factors. C&S factors, together with children's age and parental education, predicted 91.7% of the variance in the SVF score. Children's sex was not found to have a significant effect on either word productivity or C&S strategies. Results are discussed for their theoretical implications on the strategic processes underlying word production in typically developing children.

81 Autism Symptoms Reported and Observed During Neuropsychological Assessment of Children with Congenital Heart Disorder

Objective:Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) have increased likelihood for Autism Spectrum Disorder (AuSD; Sigmon, Kelleman, Susi, Nylung & Oster, 2020). Even those not meeting full criteria remain at greater risk for problems with social processing/communication (Cassidy et al, 2018). The current study examined what symptoms indicative of potential AuSD were qualitatively reported by parents, and what symptoms were noted behaviorally by clinicians. These behaviors may be targets for both further clinical inquiry and intervention.Participants and Methods:A retrospective chart review of CHD patients seen for neuropsychological assessment between the ages of 6-18 years and between 2016-2021 was conducted. The final sample included 88 patients (Ethnicity: 14% Hispanic; Race: 76% White, 17% Black/African American, 5% Asian, 1% Native American, 1% Unknown). A coding system for AuSD symptoms was derived by the authors, who are experienced in AuSD diagnosis and assessment, based on DSM-5 criteria. A comprehensive list of behaviors consistent with each symptom category was generated, and assessment reports were subsequently reviewed noting the presence, absence or “no mention” of each symptom. A second coding system was derived to assess for AuSD symptoms documented in each report’s behavioral observations. Three pediatric neuropsychologists, one post-doctoral fellow, and one psychometrist were coders, with very good reliability (k=.854 (95% CI, .827 to .881), p < .0001).Results:Twelve patients (14%) were diagnosed with AuSD. Age of diagnosis ranged from 3-14 years (M=7.82, SD=3.92). Main concerns parents expressed included difficulty with reciprocal conversation (75%), making friends (75%), initiating and maintaining social interactions (67%), and restrictive/intense interests (58%). During testing, providers noted variable eye contact (67%), appropriate responses to questions but minimal social conversation (67%), and exaggerated prosody (42%). Of those who did not have an AuSD diagnosis, the most frequent parent concerns included difficulty making friends (38%), difficulty initiating or maintaining social interactions (33%), atypical affect (25%), and restrictive/intense interests (18%). In this sample, providers noted concerns with answering questions but not maintaining conversation (26%), flat affect (16%), loud (17%) or soft (21%) speech volume, and socially immature behaviors (10%). Within this No Diagnosis group, general social concerns were highly correlated (point biserial) with more specific autism symptoms (e.g., intense interests, difficulty with transitions, sensory sensitivities r = .986 - .784), although most often the presence or absence of these concerns were not documented.Conclusions:We examined qualitative parent-reported and provider-observed behaviors indicative of potential AuSD as detailed in a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation report. Behaviors in children with formal AuSD diagnoses were consistent with that diagnosis, based on both parent and provider description. Of note, in children without AuSD, though, both parents and providers reported AuSD-like concerns (e.g., social communication/interaction problems, atypical interests, atypical affect, atypical speech volume) in a large minority of children. It is important that if general social concerns are present, that providers follow-up on, and document, a broader constellation of AuSD symptoms. These behaviors deserve further exploration and study within the CHD population and are important areas of inquiry in any clinical evaluation, as they should directly inform intervention.

Cross-sectional evaluation of the association between greenness and cognitive performance in Mexican pre-pubertal boys

BackgroundEvidence shows that greenspace exposure benefits children's health and cognitive development. However, evidence assessing this association in young children in low- and middle-income economies is scarce. ObjectiveTo assess the association between exposure to greenness and cognitive performance in pre-pubertal boys living in Mexico City. MethodsCross-sectional study using data from 144 boys aged 6–11 years living in Mexico City in 2017 and enrolled in the “MetCog” study. Cognitive performance was evaluated through selected Wechsler Scale for Intelligence in Children Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and Neuropsychological Assessment of Children (Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil, ENI) tests. Exposure to greenness was assessed through Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at 300, 500, 1500, 2000, and 3000 m buffer zones from children's residences. Multiple linear regression analysis was undertaken to assess associations between cognitive performance and greenness (aβ) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and adjusted for potential confounding variables. Significance was set at q < 0.05 after False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction. ResultsA positive association was found between the NDVI Interquartile Range (IQR) at 2000 m and the WISC-IV block design test score (aβ 2000 = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.31, 2.06; q < 0.05), which assesses perceptual reasoning. Positive associations were found with NDVI IQR at 1500 m and WISC-IV block design (aβ1500 = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.14, 1.86) and matrix reasoning (aβ1500 = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.06, 1.61) scores, but neither survived FDR correction. No significant associations were found between NDVI IQR at any buffer size with other WISC-IV and ENI task scores. ConclusionsGreater exposure to greenness was associated with higher perceptual reasoning skills in 144 pre-pubertal boys living in Mexico City. Thus, urban planning should consider increasing vegetation in megacities, especially in neighbourhoods with high percentages of young children.

Measuring mindreading in preschoolers: The perspective battery (PERBAT)

Objective The capacity to take another person’s visual perspective is pivotal for solving mindreading tests, such as Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks, but most of them heavily rely on domain-general abilities (e.g., language, executive functions). Here we present a novel battery of visual perspective-taking tests for child neuropsychological assessment, the Perspective Battery (PERBAT), which poses a limited load on domain-general abilities. Methods The battery includes four tests: i) Block Building; ii) Hide and Seek; iii) Deceptive Figures; iv) Double-Sided Shelf. We administered the PERBAT to 126 typically developing preschoolers (65 males; 3-6-year-old); the participants also performed classical tests of social cognition, language, and nonverbal abstract reasoning. Results The scores of all the PERBAT tests were significantly and positively related with age and scores of the classical social cognition tests, but not with scores of the language and nonverbal abstract reasoning tests. Conclusions The PERBAT could represent a useful neuropsychological tool providing a comprehensive assessment of visual perspective-taking skills in preschool children. Future investigation is needed to examine the validity of the PERBAT with neurotypical samples across countries, race, ethnicity, and language as well as with clinical populations. Longitudinal studies are also encouraged to examine whether early visual perspective-taking weaknesses are associated with later development of mindreading skills.

Object Recognition and Dorsal Stream Vulnerabilities in Children With Early Brain Damage.

AimVisual functions of the dorsal stream are considered vulnerable in children with early brain damage. Considering the recognition of objects in suboptimal representations a dorsal stream dysfunction, we examined whether children with early brain damage and impaired object recognition had either general or selective dorsal stream dysfunctions.MethodIn a group of children with early brain damage (n = 48) we evaluated the dorsal stream functioning. To determine whether these patients had an increased risk of a dorsal stream dysfunction we compared the percentage of patients with impaired object recognition, assessed with the L94, with the estimated base rate. Then we evaluated the performance levels on motion perception, visual attention and visuomotor tasks in patients with (n = 18) and without (n = 11) object recognition abnormalities. A general dorsal stream dysfunction was considered present if a patient showed at least one abnormally low score in two out of three additional dorsal stream functions.ResultsSix of the eighteen (33.3%) patients with object recognition problems scored abnormally low on at least two additional dorsal stream functions. This was significantly higher than the base rate (p = 0.01). The difference of 24.1% between the patients with and without object recognition problems was not significant. Of the patients with object recognition problems 72.2% had at least 1 dorsal weakness, whereas this was only the case in 27.3% of patients without object recognition problems. Compared to patients with normal object recognition, patients with object recognition problems scored significantly more abnormally low on motion perception and visual attention (ps = 0.03) but did not differ on visuomotor skills.ConclusionChildren with object recognition problems seem at risk for other dorsal stream dysfunctions, but dysfunctions might be rather specific than general. Multiple functions/aspects should be evaluated in neuropsychological assessment of children at risk.

Visuospatial training has positive effect on language abilities in children with Delirium diagnoses and inclusion of delirium-specific

IntroductionIt was shown that children with specific language impairments (SLI) have deficits not only in producing and understanding language but also in visuospatial abilities (Kiselev et al., 2016). We assume that training programs that are aimed to develop the visuospatial abilities can help children with SLI.ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to assess the impact of visuospatial training on the language abilities in 6–7 years old children with SLI.MethodsThe participants were 20 children aged 6–7 years with SLI. Children were randomly assigned to the intervention and comparison group. Children from intervention group participated in 8 weeks of visuospatial training. This programme trains the child to do different visuospatial exercises both on motor and cognitive level. This programme is built on the conceptual framework derived from the work of Luria’s theory of restoration of neurocognitive functions (Luria, 1963, 1974). We used the subtests from Luria’s child neuropsychological assessment battery to assess language abilities in children before and after the intervention period.ResultsAnalysis of covariance tested the effect of visuospatial training programme on five language subtest from Luria’s child neuropsychological assessment battery. Group differences (p&lt;.05) were found for subtest that assess understanding prepositions that describe the spatial relations between objects. Posttest mean for the intervention group were significantly (p&lt;.05) greater than the control group.ConclusionsIt can be assumed that visuospatial training in children with SLI benefits specific language abilities for understanding sentences with spatial prepositions.

Item analysis of the Child Neuropsychological Assessment Test (TENI): Classical test theory and item response theory

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Test de Evaluación Neuropsicologica Infantil (TENI) using classical test theory (CTT), item response theory (IRT), and differential item functioning (DIF) models. The visuospatial working memory, focused attention, and matrix reasoning subtasks were analyzed. A total of 553 children, aged between 3 and 9 years of age, from eight public and private schools from the urban area of Belo Horizonte were assessed. In general, all subtasks can be treated essentially as unidimensional. Items’ discrimination and difficulties increased in the order of presentation, as they were planned, using CTT and IRT. Items with DIF were found in all tasks, with higher probabilities of answering items correctly for boys and for private school children. Our results corroborated the partial use of some TENI subtasks as a promising digital instrument for non-verbal neuropsychological assessment for children.

Children with weakness in grammar understanding have weakness in visuospatial abilities

Abstract Objectives Weakness in grammar understanding is key feature of children with specific language impairments (SLI). The goal of this research was to check out the hypothesis that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial abilities. Methods The children were assessed with the task 'Comprehension of grammatical structures' from Luria's neuropsychological assessment for children. Experimental group included 27 children with weakness in grammar understanding. The control group included 27 children with typical grammar understanding. The children from experimental and control group were matched for IQ, gender and age. To assess the visuospatial abilities in children we used two tasks from Luria's neuropsychological assessment battery (Constructional Praxis and Head Test) as well as the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test. Results One-way ANOVAs by group revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0,05) between the groups for scores in all visuospatial tasks. It can be assumed that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial functions. We also revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0,05) between the groups for number of spatial errors in the Rey-Osterieth Complex Figure test. Conclusions This study suggests that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial abilities. Received results provided insight into cognitive and language mechanisms in typically developing children and the underlying nature of SLI, helping to elucidate the nature of impaired mechanism in children with weakness in grammar understanding. Key messages Children with weakness in grammar understanding have weakness in visuospatial abilities. It is possible that children with specific language impairments have deficit in nonverbal abilities.

PND28 Children with Hypoxic-Ischaemic Encephalopathy Have a Delay in the Development of Executive Abilities

It is known that children, born with Hypoxic-ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE), have a risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. The goal of this research was to examine the hypothesis that children, born with HIE, have a specific deficit in executive abilities. The experimental group included 26 children aged 7–8 years (mean age = 7.3). They were born full-term with perinatal Hypoxic-ischaemic Encephalopathy. The control group included 26 typically developing children. The children from experimental and control group were matched for gender and age. Children from both groups were assessed with subtests from Luria’s child neuropsychological assessment battery. These subtests are designed to assess voluntary attention and abilities for programming. One-way ANOVA has revealed group differences in voluntary attention. However, we have not revealed significant (p<.05) differences between children from experimental and control group in abilities for programming. In view of the obtained results it can be assumed that the Hypoxic-ischaemic Encephalopathy has specific (not global) negative effect on development of executive abilities in children. Particularly, children, born with HIE, have deficit in voluntary attention.

PND97 VISUOSPATIAL TRAINING HAS POSITIVE EFFECT ON LANGUAGE ABILITIES IN CHILDREN WITH SLI

It was shown that children with specific language impairments (SLI) have deficits not only in producing and understanding language but also in visuospatial abilities (Kiselev et al., 2016). We assume that training programs that are aimed to develop the visuospatial abilities can help children with SLI. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of visuospatial training on the language abilities in children with SLI. The participants were 24 children aged 6–7 years (mean age = 6.5) with SLI. Children were randomly assigned to the intervention and comparison group. Children from intervention group participated in 36 weeks of visuospatial training. This programme trains the child to do different visuospatial exercises both on motor and cognitive level. This training is built on the conceptual framework derived from the work of Luria’s theory of restoration of neurocognitive functions (Luria, 1963, 1974). We used the subtests from Luria’s child neuropsychological assessment battery to assess language abilities in children before and after the intervention period. Analysis of covariance tested the effect of visuospatial training on five language subtest from Luria’s child neuropsychological assessment battery. Group differences (p<.05) were found for subtest that assess understanding prepositions that describe the spatial relations between objects. Posttest mean for the intervention group were significantly (p<.05) greater than for the control group. It can be assumed that visuospatial training can be used for children with SLI to develop the specific language abilities, particularly the understanding sentences with spatial prepositions. However, it is necessary to do further research to reveal the impact of visuospatial training on children with SLI.

Brain magnetic resonance imaging is a predictor of bimanual performance and executive function in children with unilateral cerebral palsy.

To examine the association between brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics and executive function and bimanual performance in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Clinical MRI brain scans were classified as: (1) predominant pathological pattern (normal, white matter injury [WMI]; grey matter injury; focal vascular insults [FVI]; malformations; or miscellaneous); and (2) focal lesions (frontal, basal ganglia, and/or thalamus). Assessments included: (1) bimanual performance; (2) unimanual dexterity; and (3) executive function tasks (information processing, attention control, cognitive flexibility, and goal setting) and behavioural ratings (parent). From 131 recruited children, 60 were ineligible for analysis, leaving 71 children (47 males, 24 females) in the final sample (mean age 9y [SD 2y], 6y-12y 8mo). Brain MRIs were WMI (69%) and FVI (31%); and frontal (59%), thalamic (45%), basal ganglia (37%), and basal ganglia plus thalamic (21%). Bimanual performance was lower in FVI versus WMI (p<0.003), and with frontal (p=0.36), basal ganglia (p=0.032), and thalamic/basal ganglia lesions (p=0.013). Other than information processing, executive function tasks were not associated with predominant pattern. Frontal lesions predicted attention control (p=0.049) and cognitive flexibility (p=0.009) but not goal setting, information processing, or behavioural ratings. Clinical brain MRI predicts cognitive and motor outcomes when focal lesions and predominate lesion patterns are considered. What this paper adds Early brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) predicts bimanual performance and cognitive outcomes. Brain MRI may identify children requiring targeted interventions. Basal ganglia with/without thalamic lesions predicted bimanual performance. Frontal lesions were associated with attention control and cognitive flexibility. Brain MRI predominant patterns predicted motor, not cognitive outcomes, other than information processing.

Predictors of Early Reading Acquisition in Children of Low Socioeconomic Status

Abstract The aim of the present study was to identify the predictors of early-grade reading acquisition in monolingual speakers of a transparent language. Eighty students attending preschool (M = 5 years, SD = 0.40), first grade (M = 6 years, SD = 0.59) and second grade (M = 7 years, SD = 0.55) in a public institution participated in the study. All were evaluated with the Early Grade Reading Acquisition test, an ad hoc sociodemographic questionnaire and the language domain of the Child Neuropsychological Assessment battery. Multiple regression analysis showed that phonological awareness and years of education are the factors that explain reading performance of children in their early years of school. These findings highlight the importance of improving oral skills prior to early reading acquisition and contribute to enhancing the early reading skills of monolingual children with limited socioeconomic opportunities.

Team Approach to Diagnostic and Correction of Learning Problems in a Public Primary School

The paper presents an analysis of opportunities of a team approach in support of primary school pupils with learning difficulties and maladjustment. It describes the possibilities of neuropsychological approach in conjunction with the team method of work. The authors introduced stages of the diagnostic and remedial process, taking into account the specific features of public primary school. The research objective was to analyze opportunities of team method in a primary school, based on the neuropsychological approach. The diagnostic and remedial process has four stages. For the diagnosis, the authors used age-adapted individual and group neuropsychological assessment of children using Luria's battery, with quantitative evaluation of data, as well as a modified method of "proof-reading test" and Gestalt test by Bender. The authors proposed a multi-stage diagnostic method, adapted to conditions of the public primary school. The results of diagnosis revealed the structure of cognitive disturbances in children. The paper focuses on the application possibilities of the team method, based on the neuropsychological approach in primary school, as well as on the opportunities for schools to support children "at risk".

Maternal mindfulness training during pregnancy has positive effect on cognitive development of young children

There is evidence that maternal anxiety during pregnancy affects child outcomes. However, there is lack of studies that have evaluated the effects of maternal psychosocial factors during pregnancy on child cognitive outcomes. This study evaluates the effect of the maternal mindfulness training during pregnancy on cognitive development in 5 years old children. In the current study we included 26 women who participated in the maternal mindfulness training during pregnancy. The control group included 26 women who did not participate in this training during pregnancy. When the offspring of the target pregnancies were 5 years of age, their cognitive development was assessed by Lurias's child neuropsychological assessment battery that enables to assess five functional domains, including executive abilities, language, memory, sensorimotor and visuospatial abilities. One-way ANOVA was used to reveal group differences in performing subtests from five functional domains of Luria's battery. We have revealed the significant differences (p < .05) between groups in two functional domains. The children from the experimental group performed better on subtests from language and memory functional domains. These results suggest that maternal mindfulness training during pregnancy may have positive effect on cognitive development of young children, particularly on the development of language and memory abilities in preschool children.

Impact of visuospatial training on language abilities in children with SLI

It was shown that children with specific language impairments (SLI) have deficits not only in producing and understanding language but also in visuospatial abilities (Kiselev et al., 2016). We assume that training programmes that are aimed to develop the visuospatial abilities can help children with SLI. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of visuospatial training on the language abilities in children with SLI. The participants were 28 children aged 6–7 years (mean age = 6.8) with SLI. Children were randomly assigned to the intervention and comparison group. Children from intervention group participated in 36 weeks of visuospatial training. This programme trains the child to do different visuospatial exercises both on motor and cognitive level. This programme is built on the conceptual framework derived from the work of Luria’s theory of restoration of neurocognitive functions (Luria, 1974). We used the subtests from Luria’s child neuropsychological assessment battery to assess language abilities in children before and after the intervention period. Analysis of covariance tested the effect of visuospatial training programme on five language subtest from Luria’s child neuropsychological assessment battery. Group differences (p<.05) were found for subtest that assess understanding prepositions that describe the spatial relations between objects. Posttest mean for the intervention group were significantly (p<.05) greater than the control group. Received results show that visuospatial training in children with SLI benefits specific language abilities for understanding sentences with spatial prepositions.

Evaluación de atención, memoria y flexibilidad cognitiva en niños bilingües

El artículo pretende identificar el impacto de la exposición temprana a una segunda lengua sobre algunas de las funciones ejecutivas, en relación con el tiempo de exposición y sexo de los participantes. El diseño metodológico es de tipo descriptivo, con alcance correlacional cuasi experimental, tipo caso control. La muestra es no probabilística, conformada por 30 niños en edades entre 5 y 6 años, en contexto escolarizado urbano. Para establecer el perfil cognitivo de los participantes se tomaron en cuenta como instrumentos la evaluación neuropsicológica infantil (ENI) y la escala WISC III abreviada (cubos y vocabulario). Se evidenció desempeño de los niños bilingües en memoria auditiva verbal; en atención visual y memoria de trabajo, los resultados son relativamente altos. En flexibilidad cognitiva, no se evidencian diferencias significativas para ambos grupos (bilingües y no bilingües). Encontramos diferencias entre niños y niñas: en memoria verbal auditiva y atención visual, las niñas muestran mejores desempeños, mientras que los niños obtuvieron mejores desempeños en las pruebas de memoria de trabajo. Por último, no encontramos correlación estadísticamente significativa entre coeficiente intelectual y resultados de la ENI.

Cognitive and spectral coherence of EEG alterations in resting state in children with chronic TBI

Introduction. TBI is associated with alterations in cortico-subcortical connectivity. However, little attention has been paid to its clinical characteristics and functional connectivity in pediatric patients with chronic TBI. Objective. To evaluate the cognitive performance and spectral coherence of a group of children with TBI in non-acute phase. Method. Cross-sectional study of 15 children with chronic TBI and 17 healthy children. The Neuropsychological Assessment of Children (Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil, ENI) was used and the resting activity of the EEG with eyes-closed was recorded. Offline, two-second epochs of the EEG of each participant were chosen and the spectral coherence was estimated in a range of 1.6 to 30 Hz. The cognitive performance between groups was compared with T-test/Mann-Whitney U Test and MANOVA for the coherence values. Results. The TBI group showed a lower performance (p ≤ 0.05) in metalinguistic, visuospatial skills, attention, memory, non-verbal flexibility, planning, and organization. Differences (p ≤ 0.000) were found both inter and intrahemispherically in the spectral coherence between the groups, particularly on F1-F3 (95% CI: 0.543 - 0.557) over the whole frequency range and F3-C3 (95% CI: 0.503 - 0.515) in delta, theta, alpha2, and beta frequencies. Discussion and conclusión. Our findings suggest alterations of hypo and hyper functional connectivity, particularly on the frontal and parietal lobes of both hemispheres, even after several years of a TBI. It is possible that a subtle difference in the degree of connectivity is crucial in the genesis or successful development of attentional, mnesic, executive, and visuospatial processes.