Abstract
Perinatal brain injury (PBI) and very premature birth are associated with a range of visual and visuo-cognitive deficits in later childhood, many related to dorsal stream function. Previously we reported deficits in cortical infant attention (FSP-fixation shift paradigm) and VEP timing in a cohort of 55 children with PBI participating in the Dolphin dietary trial [Braddick et al, VSS 2014]. Here we (a) compare global form and motion sensitivity with visual subtests from the Early Childhood Attention Battery (ECAB; Breckenridge et al (2013a), Brit J Dev Psy 31,271: selective/sustained/ executive control) in PBI children between 4-6 years of age and (b) examine whether infant attention deficits using FSP predict specific ECAB deficits. 28 children (mean age 4:11) showed ) deficits in attention and global motion sensitivity which varied across children, but was generally substantially greater than expected, given modest cognitive impairment found on the Kaufman ABC-II battery (mean standard score 9.2) Standard scores, scaled relative to mental age (expected value=10), were particularly low on visual search, sustained attention, and counterpointing (executive control) (mean = 5.9, 5.5, and 6.5 respectively) and lower for global motion (8.2) than for global form (9.3). Age based standard scores showed highly significant correlations between global motion sensitivity and the ECAB search and flanker tests. Infant attention deficits, identified with FSP, correlated significantly with scores on the ECAB flanker test. We conclude that performance on attention and global motion are correlated in PBI and substantially impaired over and above general cognitive disability. The PBI profile of attentional impairment differs from that previously found in genetic neurodevelopmental disorders (Breckenridge et al, 2013b, Brit J Dev Psy 31,259) in terms of marked sustained attention deficits. However, we do not know yet whether there are causal relationships between different impairments comprising "dorsal stream vulnerability".
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2016