engleski

Communication, Language And Cognition In Children With Perinatal Brain Lesions

Introduction: Despite an increased interest in studying the impact of early brain lesions on later development there are still many questions about the final outcome to be answered. Brain organization of language abilities in children is different from that in adults. The fact that effects of brain lesions in children and adults are qualitatively and quantitatively different speaks in favor of this claim. There is a plenty of evidence that lesions sustained during the early ages have a better outcome from those sustained in later life. However, due to insufficient knowledge and understanding of complex interplay between structural-neural and functional developmental processes it is still almost impossible to predict the level of functional recovery. The aim of this presentation is to address the issues of perinatal brain lesions and their impact on cognitive, communication and language development in children. Material and Methods: Subjects of this follow-up study are children with brain lesions sustained during perinatal development whose early cognitive, communicative and language development was thoroughly studied. Methodological and theoretical aspects will be presented and methodological issues will be discussed. Results: Results achieved so far have shown that children with perinatal brain lesions are more prone to early delay in communicative and language development. Language impairments are common consequence of early brain lesions, with general cognitive functioning mostly spared. However, it also seems that some specific cognitive capabilities such as working memory capacity can be selectively affected. As far, the results showed no simple and straight connection between basic lesions parameters (type, size, localization) and later cognitive and language development. Conclusions: The resulting impairments, frequently neglected, can have long-lasting negative effects particularly on academic achievement later on. Therefore, follow-up by speech pathologist and psychologist since the neonatal period, as well as early diagnostical and therapeutical interventions are imperative. Given that functional recovery after perinatal brain lesions may lead to a variety of cognitive architecture the study of these phenomena may improve our understanding of the relationships between brain structure, language and cognition in general. Furthermore, it can also help us to gain some insight into potentials and limitations of capacity for developmental plasticity in early childhood.

early brain damage; language development; communication; cognition

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