Hypotonia, jaundice, and Chiari malformations: relationships to executive functions

This article postulates that movement and action control are the underpinning of executive functioning. We selectively examine brain regions that have traditionally been almost exclusively understood as critical to the control and expression of movement-namely, the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. We first describe the relationship between movement and cognition. This is followed by a review of common developmental disorders that are known to exhibit abnormal executive functions and movement anomalies. Against that background, we examine hypotonia, neonatal jaundice, and Chiari I malformation, and we demonstrate why these are "at-risk" factors for neurodevelopmental disorders that can feature both motor control and executive function abnormalities. Our goal is to prepare the clinical neuropsychologist for gathering information about these features of a child's birth and developmental histories, while using this as a framework for interpreting test results and applying test data in a useful, practical way to guide descriptive diagnosis and treatment.