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Longitudinal Stability of Spatial Inattention in Children With Perinatal Stroke
Jessica Kriksciun1, Caitlin Knight2, Doris Trauner3
1Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla California.
Insights
Children with perinatal brain infarcts show distinct hemispatial inattention patterns. This inattention, affecting both left and right hemispheres, persists from early childhood through elementary school years.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Neurology
Background:
- Perinatal brain infarcts can cause contralateral hemispatial inattention in children, with patterns differing from adults.
- Understanding these patterns is crucial for early intervention and developmental support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the specific pattern of hemispatial inattention in children with left or right hemisphere perinatal lesions.
- To investigate whether this pattern changes over time during early development.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal analysis of 21 children with left hemisphere lesions and 9 with right hemisphere lesions.
- Comparison with 80 neurologically healthy controls using the Infant and Toddler Neglect Task at two time points.
- Development of a standardized scoring system to assess spatial preference.
Main Results:
- Children with left hemisphere lesions showed increased left-side preference and decreased right-side preference.
- Children with right hemisphere lesions exhibited decreased left-side preference and increased right-side preference.
- No significant changes in inattention patterns were observed over the study period.
Conclusions:
- Hemispatial inattention mechanisms are active early in child development following perinatal brain lesions.
- This inattention, regardless of lesion hemisphere, appears to be persistent through early elementary school years.
Background:
Signs of contralateral hemispatial inattention may be witnessed in children following perinatal brain infarcts (lesions), and evidence shows a pattern distinct from that in adults. This study is a longitudinal analysis of children with perinatal infarcts, with the goals of determining the pattern of inattention found in children with left or right hemisphere lesions and whether this pattern shows signs of change over time.
Methods:
Twenty-one children with left hemishpere lesions, nine children with right hemisphere lesions, and 80 neurologically healthy control children were given the Infant and Toddler Neglect Task at two different time points. At time 1, median age was 1.54 years (interquartile range [IQR] = 0.92 to 2.29). At time 2, median age was 3.25 years (IQR = 2.23 to 5.00). A standardized scoring system was developed to compare the children's preference for the left versus right side of space.
Results:
Children with left hemisphere lesions showed a significantly increased preference for the left side of space and a slightly decreased preference for the right side of space at time 1 and a significantly decreased preference for the right side of space at time 2 compared with controls. Children with right hemisphere lesions showed a significantly decreased preference for the left side of space and a significantly increased preference for the right side of space compared with controls at time 1 and a significantly decreased preference for the left side of space and a significantly increased preference for the right side of space compared with controls at time 2. There were no significant within-subjects effects across time.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that mechanisms of hemispatial inattention affect children early in the developmental process and that hemispatial inattention in children with both left and right hemisphere perinatal lesions likely persists at least through the early elementary school years.
