title: The link between impaired theory of mind and executive function in children with cerebral palsy.
abstract: The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) deficits and executive function (EF) impairments in children with cerebral palsy (CP), 42 CP with children and 42 typically developing (TD) children, acting as controls, were assessed on the tasks of ToM (false belief and faux pas) and EF (inhibition, updating and shifting). Results showed that CP children had deficits both in ToM and EF tasks. The correlation analyses showed that two EF components (inhibition and updating) were strongly related to false belief and faux pas in both two groups. We also found correlation between shifting and false belief and faux pas. However, this correlation was only found in TD children and not in children with CP. These findings suggest that children with CP lag behind TD children in both ToM and EF. Further, the results reveal, interestingly, that ToM deficits in CP children might be related to their inhibition and updating impairments, but not to shifting impairments.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function & Disease, and School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui Province 230027, PR China; Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China. Electronic address: psyxiaoming@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianxian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
authors.forename: Yongfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
authors.forename: Jingpu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Humanities & Social Science, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, PR China.
authors.forename: Yamikani
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ndasauka
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function & Disease, and School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui Province 230027, PR China; School of Humanities & Social Science, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, PR China. Electronic address: zxcustc@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaochu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D056345:Theory of Mind; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Cerebral palsy; Executive function; Theory of mind