Neuropsychological Functioning in Early Hydrocephalus: Review From a Developmental Perspective

Children with hydrocephalus have deficits in several neuropsychological domains. The most notable are motor, visuoperceptual, and visuomotor function. These deficits are multiply determined and depend on the etiology and severity of the hydrocephalus to a large extent. Corpus callosum abnormalities resulting from stretching of callosal fibers and other cortical white matter tracts are implicated as contributory to these deficits. Enlarged ventricles and associated compression of posterior cortical areas also correlate with cognitive impairment. Distinguishing which cognitive domain negatively impacts on the child's functioning and which domains influence behavior in isolation or in combination has been the subject of numerous studies. Developmentally, we know little about the emergence of neuropsychological functioning in children with hydrocephalus. Study of the effects of hydrocephalus at different stages of development is useful to clinicians and researchers interested in the impact of diffuse neurophysiological damage on cognition in the developing brain. The medical and neuropsychological literature have begun to inform about these effects. The core deficits in hydrocephalus have yet to be explicated and a focus on investigations that answer these questions is required. This review summarizes the current knowledge about neurocognitive sequelae of hydrocephalus.