FRONTAL LOBE PLASTICITY AFTER BRAIN INJURY IN CHILDHOOD

描述。近年来，人们已经清楚地认识到， 婴儿时期遭受损伤后大脑的可塑性各不相同 根据正在评估的功能和受影响的解剖区域 造成的损害。虽然对早期损伤的影响还不清楚 语言和视觉空间功能大大增加，对 通常与额叶相关的执行功能，例如 计划、解决问题、工作记忆和抑制还没有完成 患有早期局灶性脑损伤的儿童。这样的研究具有 有可能提供有关功能性程度的信息 前额叶皮质的可塑性。通过专门寻找解离 在假设为更多信息处理的方面中 复杂的额叶行为，这项研究还建议检查 这些功能在开发中的可分离性以及它们是否 特别是与额叶的不同区域有关，正如已经看到的 在成年人身上。这项研究的另一个目标是调查对 额叶区域与更严重的发育障碍有关 适应和社会功能比后部受损要好。 这些目标将通过比较一组儿童和 6个月前持续的单侧局灶性脑部病变 通常会对一系列行政职能措施进行控制。 关于工作记忆和抑制的具体测量的解离 将在局灶性病变组内以及在局灶内检查功能 通常开发控件。最后，绩效与工作绩效的关系 这些社会和适应功能的措施将被审查。

DESCRIPTION. Over recent years, it has become clear that the functional plasticity of the brain following damage sustained in infancy varies according to the functions being assessed and the anatomic areas affected by the damage. Although out understanding of the effect of early damage on language and visuospatial functions has increased greatly, studies of the executive functions normally associated with the frontal lobes, such as planning, problem solving, working memory and inhibition, have not been done with children who sustained early focal brain injury. Such research has the potential to provide information regarding the degree of functional plasticity of prefrontal cortex. By specifically looking for dissociations among aspects of informational processing hypothesized to underlie more complex frontal behaviors, this study also proposes to examine the separability of these functions in development and whether they are specifically related to distinct areas of the frontal lobes as has been seen in adults. A further goal of the study is to investigate whether damage to frontal areas is associated with greater developmental disabilities in adaptive and social functions than damage to posterior areas. These goals will be accomplished by comparing a group of children with unilateral, focal brain lesions sustained prior to 6 months of age with normally developing controls on a battery of executive functioning measures. Dissociations on specific measures of working memory and inhibitory functioning will be examined within the focal lesion group as well as within normally developing controls. Finally, the relationship of performance on these measures to social and adaptive functioning will be examined.