Background: Increasing clinical and scientific attention is given to the transition of neurological stages from child to adult. Data on brain plasticity during adolescence is interesting for providing adequate evidence-based medical attention to neurological conditions in this population. Acquired aphasia is well described in adults and children, but not in adolescence. Objective: We describe a 5-year follow-up of language in three adolescent subjects with post-brain injury aphasia. Methods: We analysed and scored formal aspects of language three times, language hemispheric dominance twice with dichotic listening test and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain activation patterns that supported expressive and comprehensive language during the recovery period. Results: We found similarities to both paediatric and adult aphasia in these three adolescents. While the level of recovery resembled that of children with aphasia, a more efficient language rehabilitation occurred in those who remained with left hemispheric dominance in the chronic stage, as it is reported in adults. Conclusions: Our analysis and long-term follow-up provide data for a better understanding on how the injured brain matures during adolescence. More studies with larger samples will help to understand the function of the remaining networks and the recovery from injury in this particular age group.

AIM: To contribute to neuropsychological profiling of developmental amnesia subsequent to bilateral damage to both hippocampi in early age. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The total sample of 24 schoolchildren from both sexes is distributed in three groups: perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy and everyday complaints of memory in school age (n = 8); perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy without memory complaints (n = 7); and a group of typically developing (n = 9). All participants in every groups did have normal general intelligence and attention. Both clinical groups had, as another clinical consequence, spastic cerebral palsy (diplegia). Neuropsychological exam consisted on tests of general intelligence, attentional abilities, declarative memory and semantic knowledge. All participants had a brain magnetic resonance image and spectroscopy of hippocampi. Scheltens criteria were used for visual estimation of hippocampal atrophy. Parametric and non-parametric statistical contrasts were made. RESULTS: Despite preservation of semantic and procedural learning, declarative-episodic memory is impaired in the first group versus the other two groups. A significant proportion of bilateral hippocampal atrophy is only present in the first group versus the other two non-amnesic groups using Scheltens estimation on MRI. Two cases without evident atrophy did have diminished NAA/(Cho + Cr) index in both hippocampi. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results contribute to delineate developmental amnesia as an specific impairment due to early partial bihippocampal damage, in agreement with previous studies. After diagnosis of developmental amnesia, a specific psychoeducational intervention must be made; also this impairment could be candidate for pharmacological trials in the future.

Background Procedural memory allows acquisition, consolidation and use of motor skills and cognitive routines. Automation of procedures is achieved through repeated practice. In children, improvement in procedural skills is a consequence of natural neurobiological development and experience. Methods The aim of the present research was to make a preliminary evaluation and description of repetition-based improvement of procedures in typically developing children (TDC). Ninety TDC children aged 6-12 years were asked to perform two procedural learning tasks. In an assembly learning task, which requires predominantly motor skills, we measured the number of assembled pieces in 60 seconds. In a mirror drawing learning task, which requires more cognitive functions, we measured time spent and efficiency. Participants were tested four times for each task: three trials were consecutive and the fourth trial was performed after a 10-minute nonverbal interference task. The influence of repeated practice on performance was evaluated by means of the analysis of variance with repeated measures and the paired-sample test. Correlation coefficients and simple linear regression test were used to examine the relationship between age and performance. Results TDC achieved higher scores in both tasks through repetition. Older children fitted more pieces than younger ones in assembling learning and they were faster and more efficient at the mirror drawing learning task. Conclusions These findings ...

There are only four previous pediatric reports of the glossopharyngeal neuralgic form of the stylohyoid complex syndrome. Stylohyoid complex has merely been described as cases of glossopharyngeal neuralgia in children. Case Report¿A 12-year-old boy came to our hospital because of recurrent episodes of severe cranial pain (9/10) lasting for 5 to 15 minutes. Pain affected the right tonsillar fossa, ear, and mastoid region. Since the start at the age of 9 years, the frequency of painful episodes has progressively increased: when admitted to our clinics 3 years later, the child was having up to five episodes daily in spite of analgesic, antiepileptic, and antidepressant drugs; he had abandoned school and leisure. Between episodes, neurological examination detected only discomfort to pressure on the right tonsillar fossa. Three-dimensional computed tomography images of the skull base showed an elongated right styloid process and bilateral calcification of the stylohyoid ligament. After surgical excision of the right styloid process and of part of the stylohyoid ligament, the glossopharyngeal painful episodes ceased. The patient remains asymptomatic seven years later. Conclusion¿In spite of its rarity in childhood, this debilitating but treatable syndrome should be kept in mind for the differential diagnosis of recurrent cranial pain in the pediatric population.

The aim is to assess repetition-based learning of procedures in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), reading disorder (RD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants included 187 children, studied in 4 groups: (a) DCD comorbid with RD and ADHD (DCD+RD+ADHD) (n = 30); (b) RD comorbid with ADHD (RD+ADHD) (n = 48); (c) ADHD (n = 19); and typically developing children (control group) (n = 90). Two procedural learning tasks were used: Assembly learning and Mirror drawing. Children were tested on 4 occasions for each task: 3 trials were consecutive and the fourth trial was performed after an interference task. Task performance by DCD+RD+ADHD children improved with training (P < .05); however, the improvement was significantly lower than that achieved by the other groups (RD+ADHD, ADHD and controls) (P < .05). In conclusion, children with DCD+RD+ADHD improve in their use of cognitive-motor procedures over a short training period. Aims of intervention in DCD+RD+ADHD should be based on individual learning abilities.

The majority of neuropsychological tests used to evaluate attention processes in children lack ecological validity. The AULA Nesplora (AULA) is a continuous performance test, developed in a virtual setting, very similar to a school classroom. The aim of the present study is to analyze the convergent validity between the AULA and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) of Conners. The AULA and CPT were administered correlatively to 57 children, aged 6¿16 years (26.3% female) with average cognitive ability (IQ mean = 100.56, SD¿=¿10.38) who had a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. Spearman correlations analyses were conducted among the different variables. Significant correlations were observed between both tests in all the analyzed variables (omissions, commissions, reaction time, and variability of reaction time), including for those measures of the AULA based on different sensorial modalities, presentation of distractors, and task paradigms. Hence, convergent validity between both tests was confirmed. Moreover, the AULA showed differences by gender and correlation to Perceptual Reasoning and Working Memory indexes of the WISC-IV, supporting the relevance of IQ measures in the understanding of cognitive performance in ADHD. In addition, the AULA (but not Conners¿ CPT) was able to differentiate between ADHD children with and without pharmacological treatment for a wide range of measures related to inattention, impulsivit

Introducción. La depresión, en sus diversas formas, afecta al 8-10% de niños y adolescentes y en la mayor parte de casos su origen es primario, siguiendo el modelo genético multifactorial. Pero hay una proporción de pacientes, no bien cuantificada todavía, en la que la depresión acompaña precozmente una enfermedad neurológica o marca un punto de inflexión en el curso de ésta. El objetivo es revisar la bibliografía al respecto. Desarrollo. Se observa fenomenología depresiva, con una frecuencia significativamente mayor que por azar, en niños y adolescentes afectos de epilepsia, trastornos del sueño, cefaleas primarias crónicas recurrentes, enfermedades neurometabólicas y tumores intracraneales. En varias de estas patologías neuropediátricas se hipotetizan puntos de coincidencia fisiopatológica con la depresión a través de un déficit de disponibilidad cerebral de serotonina y noradrenalina. No se considera aquí la depresión disadaptativa a una neurodiscapacidad crónica. Conclusiones. En niños y adolescentes, los trastornos del ánimo sintomáticos de enfermedad neurológica deben sospecharse en ausencia de antecedentes familiares o de experiencias vitales que los expliquen. La búsqueda sistemática de anomalías neurológicas y los exámenes complementarios permitirían en estos casos abordar precozmente el tratamiento de la enfermedad cerebral causante del cuadro depresivo. A su vez, como ocurre en casos de epilepsia, cefaleas o trastorno del sueño, la terapia farmacológica y psicológica del cuadro depresivo contribuye a mejorar la calidad de vida de los afectados.