Cognitive reserve in paediatric traumatic brain injury: relationship with neuropsychological outcome.
OBJECTIVE
The current study examined the relationship between neuropsychological performance and cognitive reserve (as measured by word reading and vocabulary tasks) in children with TBI.


METHODS
Retrospective records analysis of the neuropsychological test results of 52 participants with medically documented traumatic brain injuries, ranging from 6-16 years of age.


RESULTS
Indicators of cognitive reserve were not correlated with the majority of well-recognized neuropsychological measures.


CONCLUSIONS
Although past research has found that verbal ability is a valid indicator of CR in adult populations, the present study found evidence against the validity of this traditional reserve proxy when applied to the paediatric population. These findings suggest one of two conclusions: (1) measures used to indicate CR in adult populations (word reading, vocabulary) are not valid indicators of cognitive reserve in paediatric populations; and/or (2) the measures themselves are valid, yet there is simply not a significant relationship between cognitive reserve and short-term (i.e. less than 6 months) neuropsychological outcome in paediatric TBI.
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. amanda19@yorku.ca
Amanda
A
Fuentes
Cherisse
C
McKay
Christina
C
Hay
D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis