[Cognitive functions in Turner's syndrome]

In this article, the interrelations between biological and emotional factors in learning disabilities in Turner's syndrome are studied.

This is a transversal study with a 18 months neuropsychiatric follow-up. Five girls with the syndrome, aged between 12 and 22 years have been studied using Wechsler scales (WISC-R and WAIS), individual interviews and psychodiagnostic tests, to describe both their cognitive profile and psychological traits.

The intelligence tests show selective impairments in visuo-spatial area, with lower score on performance IQ, especially in the sub-tests "Block Design" and "Object Assembly"; individual interviews and psychodiagnostic tests show signs of psychological disease, often consequences of this syndrome, and only in one girl with an associated diagnosis of psychosis.

Psychological and environmental factors, as well as the genetics, may play an important role in the impairment of cognitive abilities, and the neuropsychological aspects may not be related only with the organic substrate.