Their Typically Developing Children Research Articles

Joint kinematics and SPM analysis of gait in children with and without Down syndrome

BackgroundIndividuals with Down syndrome (DS) walk with altered gait patterns compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. While walking at faster speeds and with external ankle load, preadolescents with DS demonstrate spatiotemporal and kinetic improvements. However, evidence of joint kinematic adjustments is unknown, which is imperative for targeted rehabilitation design. Research questionHow does increasing walking speed and adding ankle load affect the joint kinematics of children with and without DS during overground walking? MethodsIn this cross-sectional observational study, thirteen children with DS aged 7–11 years and thirteen age- and sex-matched TD children completed overground walking trials. There were two speed conditions: normal speed and fast speed (as fast as possible without running). There were two load conditions: no load and ankle load (2% of body mass added bilaterally above the ankle). A motion capture system was used to register the ankle, knee, and hip joint angles in the sagittal plane. Peak flexion/extension angles, range of motion, and timing of peak angles were identified. In addition, statistical parametric mapping (SPM) was conducted to evaluate the trajectory of the ankle, knee, and hip joint angles across the entire gait cycle. Results and significanceSPM analysis revealed the DS group walked with greater ankle, knee, and hip flexion compared to the TD group for most of the gait cycle, regardless of condition. Further, increasing walking speed led to improved ankle joint kinematics in both groups by shifting peak plantarflexion closer to toe-off. However, knee extension during stance was challenged in the DS group. Adding ankle load improved hip and knee kinematics in both groups but reduced peak plantarflexion around toe-off. The kinematic adjustments in the DS group suggest specific motor strategies to accommodate their neuromuscular deficits, which can provide a foundation to design targeted gait-based interventions for children with DS.

A comparison of learning and retention of a syntactic construction between Cantonese-speaking children with and without DLD in a priming task

Procedural circuit Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) predicts problems with learning and retention of grammar. Twenty 7- to 9-year-old Cantonese-speaking children with DLD and their typically developing (TD) age peers participated in a syntactic priming task that was given in two sessions one week apart. Production of Indirect Object Relative Clause (IORC) was tested using a probe test before and after the priming task, and one week later. The study involved two cycles of learning and retention, and two levels of prior knowledge. Bayesian linear mixed effects modelling was used for data analysis. Children with DLD learned, and possibly retained, IORC less well than TD children after age, working memory and general grammatical knowledge were controlled for. No interaction effects were significant, meaning that cycle and prior knowledge affected both groups similarly in learning and retention. Results were discussed in relation to PDH and the Complementary Learning Systems Theory.

Locomotor-cognitive dual-tasking in children with developmental coordination disorder.

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) demonstrate deficits in predictive motor control and aspects of cognitive control compared with their typically developing (TD) peers. Adjustment to dynamic environments depends on both aspects of control and the deficits for children with DCD may constrain their ability to perform daily actions that involve dual-tasking. Under the assumption that motor-cognitive integration is compromised in children with DCD, we examined proportional dual-task costs using a novel locomotor-cognitive dual-task paradigm that enlisted augmented reality. We expect proportional dual-task performance costs to be greater for children with DCD compared to their TD peers. Participants were 34 children aged 6-12 years (16 TD, 18 DCD) who walked along a straight 12 m path under single- and dual-task conditions, the cognitive task being visual discrimination under simple or complex stimulus conditions presented via augmented reality. Dual-task performance was measured in two ways: first, proportional dual-task costs (pDTC) were computed for cognitive and gait outcomes and, second, within-trial costs (p-WTC) were measured as the difference on gait outcomes between pre- and post-stimulus presentation. On measures of pDTC, TD children increased their double-limb support time when walking in response to a dual-task, while the children with DCD increased their locomotor velocity. On p-WTC, both groups increased their gait variability (step length and step width) when walking in response to a dual-task, of which the TD group had a larger proportional change than the DCD group. Greater pDTCs on motor rather than cognitive outcomes were consistent across groups and method of dual-task performance measurement. Contrary to predictions, our results failed to support dramatic differences in locomotor-cognitive dual-task performance between children with DCD and TD, with both groups tending to priorities the cognitive over the motor task. Inclusion of a within-trial calculation of dual-task interference revealed an expectancy effect for both groups in relation to an impending visual stimulus. It is recommended that dual-task paradigms in the future continue to use augmented reality to present the cognitive task and consider motor tasks of sufficient complexity to probe the limits of performance in children with DCD.

Strategic social decision making undergoes significant changes in typically developing and autistic early adolescents.

Information sampling about others' trustworthiness prior to cooperation allows humans to minimize the risk of exploitation. Here, we examined whether early adolescence or preadolescence, a stage defined as in between childhood and adolescence, is a significant developmental period for strategic social decisions. We also sought to characterize differences between autistic children and their typically developing (TD) peers. TD (N=48) and autistic (N=56) 8- to 12-year-olds played an online information sampling trust game. While both groups adapted their information sampling and cooperation to the various trustworthiness levels of the trustees, groups differed in how age and social skills modulated task behavior. In the TD group social skills were a stronger overall predictor of task behavior. In the autistic group, age was a stronger predictor and interacted with social skills. Computational modeling revealed that both groups used the same heuristic information sampling strategy-albeit older TD children were more efficient as reflected by decreasing decision noise with age. Autistic children had lower prior beliefs about the trustee's trustworthiness compared to TD children. These lower priors indicate that children believed the trustees to be less trustworthy. Lower priors scaled with lower social skills across groups. Notably, groups did not differ in prior uncertainty, meaning that the priors of TD and autistic children were equally strong. Taken together, we found significant development in information sampling and cooperation in early adolescence and nuanced differences between TD and autistic children. Our study highlights the importance of deep phenotyping of children including clinical measures, behavioral experiments and computational modeling. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We specified how early adolescents with and without an autism diagnosis sampled information about their interaction partners and made cooperation decisions in a strategic game. Early adolescence is a significant developmental period for strategic decision making, marked by significant changes in information sampling efficiency and adaptivity to the partner's behavior. Autistic and non-autistic groups differed in how age and social skills modulated task behavior; in non-autistic children behavior was more indicative of overall social skills. Computational modeling revealed differences between autistic and non-autistic groups in their initial beliefs about cooperation partners; autistic children expected their partners to be less trustworthy.

The effect of uneven surfaces on inter-joint coordination during walking in children with cerebral palsy

Clinical gait analysis on uneven surfaces contributes to the ecological assessment of gait deviations of children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Walking on uneven surfaces requires specific motor strategies, which can be assessed by lower-limb kinematic and inter-joint coordination analyses. This study aimed to assess and compare kinematics and inter-joint coordination between children with CP and their typically developing (TD) peers when walking on even and two levels of uneven surfaces (medium and high). A total of 17 children with CP and 17 TD children (11.5 ± 3.5 and 10.4 ± 4.5 years old, respectively) were asked to complete 6–8 gait trials on a 4-m walkway of each surface (n = 3) in randomized blocks while fit with retro-reflective markers on their lower-limbs. Children with CP showed proximal gait adaptations (i.e., hip and knee) on uneven surfaces. Compared with the TD group, the CP group showed decreased hip extension during late stance (49–63%, d = 0.549, p < 0.001), and a more in-phase knee-hip coordination strategy during swing phase (75–84% of gait cycle, d = 1.035, p = 0.029 and 92–100%, d = 1.091, p = 0.030) when walking on an uneven (high), compared to even surface. This study provides a better understanding of kinematic strategies employed by children with spastic CP when facing typical daily life gait challenges. Further studies are needed to evaluate the benefits of integrating uneven surfaces in rehabilitation care.

Children With Developmental Language Disorder Show Deficits in the Production of Musical Rhythmic Groupings.

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) show evidence of domain-general deficits in sequentially patterned motor skills. This study focuses on the production of rhythmically grouped sequences drawn from a music task, with the hypothesis that children with DLD will show a sequential pattern learning deficit that crosses language and action domains. Fifty-seven 4- to 5-year-old children (36 with DLD) drummed and clapped a developmentally appropriate musical rhythmic sequence 24 times (clapped 12 times, drummed 12 times). The accuracy of rhythmic events (markings of claps, drums, and pauses in a target sequence) was assessed through a modification of classic speech and language transcription procedures. The variability and prosodic structure of the rhythmic groupings were also measured. Children with DLD produced less accurate and more variable rhythmic groupings compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. While the final-position grouping of the sequence was especially vulnerable for all children, those with DLD included more co-occurring errors in initial and final groupings of the same rhythmic sequence. Both TD children and children with DLD were less accurate in the clapping than the drumming task. Neither rhythmic drumming nor clapping accuracy correlated with motor skill in either group of children. This study provides novel evidence of a manual rhythmic grouping deficit in DLD, one that is motivated by language-not motor or speech-factors. Cognitive abilities necessary to organize rhythmic events into higher order groupings are impaired across music and language in children with DLD. Rhythmic organization and sequencing may serve an important role in diagnosis and intervention in this population. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24158745.

The relationship between mean length of utterance (MLU), Persian developmental sentence score (PDSS), and photographic expressive Persian grammar test (PEGT) in typically developing children and those with developmental language disorder (DLD)

Purpose This study investigated the relationship between three practical measures for evaluating Persian grammar expression skills, MLU, PDSS, and PEGT, in preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their typically developing (TD) peers. Method Secondary data were obtained by re-analyzing language samples collected in previous studies. Previously audiotaped language samples of 25 monolingual 5–7 years-old Persian children with DLD and 25 TD children were transcribed and reanalyzed to calculate MLU in words (MLU-w) and PDSS for comparison with the results of PEGT. Results Children with DLD had lower scores in PEGT, PDSS, and MLU-w than TD children (p < 0.001). In addition, there was a strong correlation between PDSS and MLU-w in both DLD (r = 0.91) and TD groups (r = 0.79). There was a significant correlation between PEGT and MLU (r = 0.76) and PDSS (r = 0.78) in the DLD group, while these correlations were not significant in TD group. Conclusions Considering the positive and significant correlation between MLU, PDSS, and PEGT in children with DLD, the use of PEGT, as a valid, reliable, and accurate test of grammar, which can be implemented quickly and easily, is suggested for clinical purposes of identification and screening of Persian children with DLD.

Vocabulary Breadth and Depth in Early School-Aged Children with Developmental Language Disorder – Evidence from Serbian Speaking Children

Objectives. Taking into account the positive association observed between lexical abilities and academic performance in children, this research aims to compare the expressive vocabulary skills and the organization of the lexical-semantic network in early school-aged children diagnosed with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their typically developing (TD) peers.&#x0D; Method. The sample included 57 participants (aged 7 and 8 years), 27 children diagnosed with DLD and 30 TD children. The Boston Naming Test and Word Association Task were employed to assess lexical abilities.&#x0D; Results. The findings revealed that children with DLD produced significantly fewer correct answers and a higher number of errors during the naming task when compared to their typically developing peers. Moreover, children with DLD provided significantly fewer developmentally mature types of associations and significantly more developmentally immature ones.&#x0D; Conclusion. The study results indicate that children with DLD continue to display significant lexical deficits during school-age, encompassing both vocabulary breadth and depth. These findings highlight the importance of implementing additional intervention approaches that focus on semantic aspects to prevent further language deterioration and mitigate the potential negative impact of lexical impairments on the academic achievements of these children.

The Repetition of Relative Clauses in Mandarin Children with Developmental Language Disorder

ABSTRACT This paper attempts to investigate the repetition of Relative Clauses (RCs) in Mandarin children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) (aged 4; 5 to 6; 0) and their typically developing (TD) peers. The results of a sentence repetition task indicate that Mandarin children with DLD perform significantly worse than both groups of TD children, and they tend to make errors involving the relativizer DE and are more likely to produce Non-RC responses. Furthermore, the gap type of RC or the adjective’s position does not affect our participants’ recall of the test sentences. We conclude that the symmetric performance of our participants in the subject RC and object RC conditions is because the structural intervention occurs in object RCs, but the linear intervention counts more in subject RCs. The syntactic deficit approach better explained the difficulty experienced by children with DLD in RC repetition. Theoretically, this study demonstrates that the Edge Feature Underspecification Hypothesis captures more characteristics of children with DLD in repeating RCs than previous representational theories.

Physical Fitness and Maternal Psychosocial Status in Children With Autism Attending a Regular Physical Activity Program

The aim of this study was to compare physical fitness-related parameters in Turkish children with mild to moderate autism and their typically developing (TD) peers to determine maternal anxiety level and quality of life. Children with autism had significantly worse scores for all Munich Fitness Test (MFT) parameters except step test heart rate and had lower physical activity levels compared to the TD children ( p &lt; .05). There was no difference between groups in terms of postural deviations or maternal anxiety scores ( p &gt; .05). The MFT total score was associated with higher maternal quality of life scores ( r = .605, p = .006). This study showed that despite participating in a regular physical activity program, children with mild to moderate autism have lower physical fitness and activity levels compared to their TD peers, whereas better physical fitness in children with autism has a positive effect on their mothers’ quality of life.

Applying Random Forest classification to diagnose autism using acoustical voice-quality parameters during lexical tone production

Atypical voice quality has been reported among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet, it is unclear which acoustic parameters played a crucial role in discriminating the voice of children with ASD from that of their typically developing (TD) peers, especially those who speak a tone language. The current study carried out a preliminary investigation of voice quality in Mandarin-speaking children with ASD using multidimensional acoustic parameters, in an effort to seek the most robust cues using the Random Forest classification. Twenty Mandarin-speaking children with ASD and twenty age-matched TD children participated in the lexical tone production using a picture-naming task. Acoustic parameters included in this study were time-domain parameters: fundamental frequency (F0), the range of F0, the strength of excitation; spectral parameters: H1*-H2*, H2*-H4*, H1*-A1*, H1*-A2*, H1*-A3*; and signal aperiodicity parameters: cepstral peak prominence, harmonic-to-noise ratio, subharmonic-to-harmonic ratio, jitter, and shimmer. Results showed that except for HNR and F0 range, group differences (ASD vs. TD) were found in the other 11 parameters. Additionally, a 78.5% accuracy rate was obtained for classification analysis between voice-quality features of children with and without ASD, with shimmer and jitter as robust parameters. These results indicated that Mandarin-speaking children with ASD tended to overexert and overstrained their voices. Especially for Tone 3 production, they notably exhibited a higher F0 with a less creaky voice, losing the typical voice-quality feature of T3. Although no voice disorders were detected among Mandarin-speaking children with ASD, voice quality has the potential and supplementary value for diagnosing ASD.

Brief report: The impact of the broad autism phenotype on parent perception of autism symptoms in their children with and without autism spectrum disorder compared to teachers

BackgroundEvaluation of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes caregiver-reported rating scales of symptom presentation. The extent to which a broad autism phenotype (BAP) in parents of children with ASD might impact their endorsement of autism symptoms in their children with and without ASD has not been well evaluated. AimsThis study analyzed whether varying degrees of parental BAP were associated with reported autism symptoms in offspring with and without ASD. Methods and ProceduresWe used the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire as a measure of BAP in parents and parent- and teacher-report on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) to assess autism symptoms in children with ASD and their typically developing (TD) siblings (N = 5714). We assessed the relationship between parental BAP and parent-teacher discordance. We compared teacher reports of autism symptoms in children with varying degrees of BAP exposure. Outcomes and ResultsMothers with higher levels of BAP over-reported autism symptoms in their children (compared to teachers) than mothers with lower BAP. TD children from parents with greater BAP displayed more autism symptoms than children from households with less BAP. Conclusions and ImplicationsBAP is associated with parent report of autism symptoms when compared to teacher report. For children with ASD, it is possible that differences in ratings reflect parent perception and not autism symptomatology; whereas, TD children from households with higher levels of BAP exposure showed more phenotypic autism symptom presentation on teacher-completed measures. Researchers and clinicians should consider BAP when interpreting caregiver and teacher reports.

Phonetic entrainment of Cantonese-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically show less engagement in social interactions. Previous studies in verbal communication found that they are less able to entrain the phonetic features to their interlocutors, compared to their Typically Developing (TD) counterparts. In this study, we examined the phonetic adjustment of 15 Cantonese-speaking ASD children (mean age = 8.5 years, range = 6–10.8) and 9 Cantonese-speaking TD children (mean age = 7.9 years, range = 6.4–9.6) when using the designed sentences to answer questions raised by the same experimenter. There are three main findings: (1) ASD children tended to disentrain the minimum f0 from the experimenter while TD children showed consistent minimum f0 through the experiment, possibly because TD children noticed the convergence made by the experimenter; (2) TD children significantly entrained the intensity towards the experimenter, but no entrainment was found in ASD children; and (3) both groups demonstrated an increase of speech rate, catching up with the speech rate of the experimenter. Although children at this age range might not fully acquire entrainment skills, our results suggested that compared to TD children, ASD children started to show atypicality of phonetic adjustment in conversations. This study of Cantonese speakers makes cross-linguistic contribution to the literature of ASD children's language acquisition.

How children with developmental language disorders solve nonverbal tasks

Abstract While solving tasks that test their intelligence, children suffering from developmental language disorders (DLD) usually receive lower scores than their typically developing (TD) peers. The present study aimed to assess how children with DLD solve typical nonverbal tasks. Sixty-five children (ages 6-9 years), monolingual users of the Polish language, participated in this study (34 with DLD, 31 TD). The Test of Language Development (TLD) was used to assess language development. Three tasks from the ABC II Kaufmann were used: triangles, story completion, and conceptual thinking. Children with DLD scored significantly lower than TD children in conceptual thinking and story completion. Scores on the triangles test did not correlate significantly with scores on the linguistic tests, whereas conceptual thinking and story completion were highly intercorrelated. While solving the task that required choosing an object that does not match other objects, children with DLD frequently selected different answers than TD children.

Preserved category-based inferences for word learning in school-aged children with developmental language disorder

ABSTRACT Word learning difficulties are often found in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Lexical patterns of difficulties appear to be well described in the context of DLD but very little research focuses on their underlying causes. Word learning is known to be an inference-based process, constrained by categorization, which helps the extension of new words to unfamiliar referents and situations. These processes appear integrated in Bayesian models of cognition, which supposes that learning relies on an inductive inference process that recruits prior knowledge and principles of statistical learning (detection of regularities). Taken together, these mechanisms remain underexplored in DLD. Our study aims to define whether children with DLD can draw inductive inferences in a word learning context using categorization. Twenty children with DLD (between 6;0 and 12;6), and 20 language-matched and 16 age-matched controls were exposed to a word learning task where they were given exemplars of objects associated with pseudo-words. The objects belonged to six categories spread across three hierarchical levels. For each item, the children chose which one(s), among a set of test objects from the same categories, could be labelled the same way (word extension). Results showed that school-aged children with DLD could extend new words to broader categories as well as their typically developing (TD) peers. Nevertheless, none of the DLD or TD children showed a specification of their categorization of familiar instances that referred to more restricted instances. Our study suggests preserved abilities in using conceptual knowledge in order to learn new words, which could be used as a compensative strategy in the context of therapy. Further studies are needed to investigate this ability in more complex learning contexts.

Nightmares in Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Their Typically Developing Peers.

Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience significantly higher rates of sleep disturbances than their typically developing (TD) peers. Pre-sleep anxiety and waking emotional content is known to affect the content and frequency of nightmares, which can be distressing to children and caregivers. This is the first study to analyse nightmare frequency and content in FASD, and to assess its association with psychometric outcomes. Using online caregiver questionnaires, we assessed reports from 277 caregivers of children with ASD (n = 61), FASD (n = 112), and TD children (n = 104) using the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and the Behaviour Rating Inventory for Executive Functioning (BRIEF). Within the ASD group, 40.3% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares. Within the FASD group, 73.62% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares, and within the TD group, 21.36% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between anxiety and nightmares, maladaptive behaviour and nightmares, and executive functioning and nightmares in the TD and FASD groups, but not ASD group. This paper adds to the emerging body of work supporting the need for sleep interventions as part of clinical practice with regard to children with ASD and FASD. As a relatively niche but important area of study, this warrants much needed further research.

Participation of Children With ASD Using an Adapted Structured Preschool Participation Observation and Comparison With Typically Developing Children

Abstract Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. Participation of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited compared with their typically developing (TD) peers. This study examined the participation of children with ASD using an adapted observation in comparison with TD children. Content validity was evaluated by 21 experts, and 70 children were observed. Children with ASD scored significantly lower than TD children in most areas. More structured settings enabled higher participation scores. Further studies are needed. Primary Author and Speaker: Anat Golos Contributing Authors: Sophi Itkin, Hadas Ben-Zur

The interpretations of scalar implicatures, presuppositions, and implicated presupposition by Thai children with autism

Using the negated universal quantifiernot every, the study investigates the interpretations of scalar implicatures, lexical presuppositions, and implicated presuppositions by Thai children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs; n= 32), comparedto their typically-developing (TD) peers (n= 70) and adults (n= 40). The results provide further empirical evidence to the literature (Chevallier et al. 2010, Hochstein et al. 2017, Pijnacker et al. 2009) that not only do adolescents with ASD perform on par with TD adolescents,children with ASD are also age-appropriate in their performance on deriving scalar implicatures. Despite the children with ASD's ability to compute scalar implicature, they still tend to give more logical, literal responses, compared to their peers. Compared to adults, both children with ASD and TD children still have a higher tendency to rely on the logical meaning rather than pragmatically inferred meaning. They are also less likely than adults to derive scalar implicatures, but equally likely to derive lexical presuppositions. No additive effects of implicated presuppositions are found in any group of the participants.

Associations Between Language Difficulties, Peer Victimization, and Bully Perpetration From 3 Through 8 Years of Age: Results From a Population-Based Study.

Background and Purpose Schoolchildren with language difficulties experience more peer victimization compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. Whether these children also bully their peers (bully perpetration) more than TD children is unclear. Furthermore, little is known about peer victimization and bully perpetration among preschool children with language difficulties and how it may be related to different paths of language difficulties. This study aimed to investigate associations between language difficulties, peer victimization, and bully perpetration from preschool to school age as well as the risk of peer victimization and bully perpetration for children with different developmental paths of language difficulties and mild language difficulties compared to TD children. Method The sample was drawn from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. Participants with completed questionnaires at 3, 5, and 8 years of age (n = 22,628) were included. Paths between latent variables of language skills at 3, 5, and 8 years of age, peer victimization at 5 and 8 years of age, and bully perpetration at 8 years of age were examined with structural equation modeling. Logistic regression was used to investigate peer victimization and bully perpetration for predefined paths of language difficulties. Results Poor language skills at 3 and 5 years of age were associated with peer victimization at 5 years of age. Poor language skills at 5 and 8 years of age were associated with peer victimization and bully perpetration at 8 years of age. The association between poor language skills at 5 years of age and bully perpetration at 8 years of age was stronger for girls. Persistent paths of language difficulties at 3, 5, and 8 years of age showed the highest risk of peer victimization and bully perpetration. Conclusions Language difficulties are associated with peer victimization and bully perpetration. The risk of peer victimization and bully perpetration differs according to different developmental paths of language difficulties from preschool to school age.

Neuropsychological Profile of Intellectually Gifted Children: A Systematic Review.

The term intellectually gifted (IG) refers to children of high intelligence, which is classically measured by the intelligence quotient (IQ). Some researchers assume that the cognitive profiles of these children are characterized by both strengths and weaknesses, compared with those of their typically developing (TD) peers of average IQ. The aim of the present systematic review was to verify this assumption, by compiling data from empirical studies of cognitive functions (language, motor skills, visuospatial processing, memory, attention and executive functions, social and emotional cognition) and academic performances. The literature search yielded 658 articles, 15 of which met the selection criteria taken from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses model. We undertook a qualitative summary, to highlight any discrepancies between cognitive functions. IG children exhibited better skills than TD children in a number of domains, including attention, language, mathematics, verbal working memory, shifting, and social problem solving. However, the two groups had comparable skills in visuospatial processing, memory, planning, inhibition, and visual working memory, or facial recognition. Although IG children may have some strengths, many studies have failed to find differences between this population and their TD peers on many other cognitive measures. Just like any other children, they can display learning disabilities, which can be responsible for academic underachievement. Further studies are needed to better understand this heterogeneity. The present review provides pointers for overcoming methodological problems and opens up new avenues for giftedness research.