Effects of Cerebral Palsy on Neuropsychological Function

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a muscle and movement disorder that affects children and is the result of early brain injury. The causes and nature of the brain damage may vary considerably, which renders children with cerebral palsy a heterogeneous group. Only recently has research begun to utilize technology to determine the nature of the brain injury and the relation to clinical observations. This paper reviews neuropsychological findings on children with a diagnosis of CP with regard to the spastic, dyskinetic, and ataxic types. Specifically, areas of sensorimotor functioning, language and verbal skills, visual-spatial and perceptual skills, learning and memory, and executive functioning are reviewed. Implications for learning as well as a neurobiological cause of executive function deficits are discussed.