Verbal and nonverbal skill discrepancies in hydrocephalic children

Abstract

This study evaluated a large sample (N = 90) of 5- to 7-year-old children with hydrocephalus caused by aqueductal stenosis or prematurity-intraventricular hemorrhage or associated with spina bifida. Comparison groups of normal controls, children with spina bifida and no shunt, and premature children with no hydrocephalus were also evaluated. Comparison of skill discrepancies at two occasions separated by 1 year revealed that hydrocephalic children, as a group, showed poorer nonverbal than verbal skills on measures from the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, the WISC-R, and composites of neuropsychological skills. No discrepancies in verbal-nonverbal memory were found nor were any discrepancies attributable to etiology or motor demands of the tasks. Consistent with current hypotheses concerning the role of the cerebral white matter in cognitive development, these results show that hydrocephalic children in this age range generally have poorer development of nonverbal cognitive skills relative to their language development.

Development of Hydrocephalus in Mice Expressing the Gi-Coupled GPCR Ro1 RASSL Receptor in Astrocytes

“…Shunting does not restore normal CSF circulation, which is important for carrying growth factors and cytokines to neuronal and glial precursor cells in the germinal matrix surrounding the lateral ventricles (Miyan et al, 1998). Children treated with shunts frequently have residual neurological deficits (Fernell et al, 1990(Fernell et al, , 1994Fletcher et al, 1992;McAllister et al, 1998), including impaired memory (Scott et al, 1998). Shunts are also associated with a high risk for complications such as infection, obstruction, and over drainage (Pople et al, 1990;Blount et al, 1993); nearly 70% of shunts require revision within 10 years.…”

MRI Morphometric Study and Correlation with Cognitive Functions in Young Adults Shunted for Congenital Hydrocephalus Related to Spina bifida

“…With improvements in treatment and the use of CSF derivations, the majority of infants with SB and hydrocephalus have normal intelligence, although their IQs are lower than those seen in normal controls [5, 6]. However, hydrocephalus can be associated with various neuropsychological impairments, particularly visuospatial or constructional skills [5, 7, 8].…”

Evidence of cognitive visual problems in children with hydrocephalus: a structured clinical history‐taking strategy

“…Damage to white matter is thought to be the cause of such defects, and may contribute to impaired development of non-verbal cognitive skills in children with hydrocephalus (Donders et al 1991, Fletcher et al 1992b). There appears to be impairment of the processes linking the structural description of objects to their locations and there may be an improved ability to identify simultaneously presented stimuli when they were thematically related (Coslett and Saffran 1991).…”

“…They felt that these findings were due to more than just ocular or fine motor dysfunction. Other authors have found a discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills (Fletcher et al 1992b). In a MRI study by Fletcher and coworkers (1992a), it was concluded that non-verbal cognitive skill development requires intact white matter in both hemispheres.…”