Language Development and Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Characteristics in Preschool Children With Cerebral Palsy

The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of language development in relation to brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics and the other contributing factors to language development in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

The study included 172 children with CP who underwent brain MRI and language assessments between 3 and 7 years of age. The MRI characteristics were categorized as normal, malformation, periventricular white matter lesion (PVWL), deep gray matter lesion, focal infarct, cortical/subcortical lesion, and others. Neurodevelopmental outcomes such as ambulatory status, manual ability, cognitive function, and accompanying impairments were assessed.

Both receptive and expressive language development quotients (DQs) were significantly related to PVWL or deep gray matter lesion severity. In multivariable analysis, only cognitive function was significantly related to receptive language development, whereas ambulatory status and cognitive function were significantly associated with expressive language development. More than one third of the children had a language developmental discrepancy between receptive and expressive DQs. Children with cortical/subcortical lesions were at high risk for this discrepancy.

Cognitive function is a key factor for both receptive and expressive language development. In children with PVWL or deep gray matter lesion, lesion severity seems to be useful to predict language development.