CORPUS CALLOSUM THINNING AND SPECIFIC NEUROCOGNITIVE DEFICITS: A CASE STUDY OF PERINATAL BRAIN LESION

Written by Mirna KOSTOVIC SRZENTIC, Blaženka BROZOVIC, Marko RADOŠ, Tomislav GOJMERAC on 15 December 2006. Posted in Special issue: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Guest Editors: Oana BENGA, Andrei MIU, Volume IX, Nr. 2

Abstract:

The aim of this case study was to examine the long-term structural brain changes and cognitive profile in an adolescent with normal intellectual capacity who suffered from a perinatal brain injury. The child was prematurely born and had peri-intraventricular haemorrhage grade III verified by neonatal ultrasonography. At the adolescent age, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and comprehensive neuropsychological assessment were performed. MRI showed no other structural abnormalities except thinning of the midsagittal cross-sectional area of the corpus callosum localized to the posterior part of the callosal body. Despite the normal intellectual capacity, specific long-term cognitive deficits in the domain of visuo-spatial and language processing were found. The possible effects of restricted reduction of callosal fibers in development of long-term specific neurocognitive deficits were discussed.

Keywords: perinatal brain lesion, corpus callosum, speech, language, visuospatial processing