Pediatric traumatic brain injury affects multisensory integration.
To investigate the impact of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) on multisensory integration in relation to general neurocognitive functioning.



Children with a hospital admission for TBI aged between 6 and 13 years (n = 94) were compared with children with trauma control (TC) injuries (n = 39), while differentiating between mild TBI without risk factors for complicated TBI (mildRF-; n = 19), mild TBI with ≥1 risk factor (mildRF+; n = 45), and moderate/severe TBI (n = 30). We measured set-shifting performance based on visual information (visual shift condition) and set-shifting performance based on audiovisual information, requiring multisensory integration (audiovisual shift condition). Effects of TBI on set-shifting performance were traced back to task strategy (i.e., boundary separation), processing efficiency (i.e., drift rate), or extradecisional processes (i.e., nondecision time) using diffusion model analysis. General neurocognitive functioning was measured using estimated full-scale IQ (FSIQ).



The TBI group showed selectively reduced performance in the audiovisual shift condition (p = .009, Cohen's d = -0.51). Follow-up analyses in the audiovisual shift condition revealed reduced performance in the mildRF+ TBI group and moderate/severe TBI group (ps ≤ .025, ds ≤ -0.61). These effects were traced back to lower drift rate (ps ≤ .048, ds ≤ -0.44), reflecting reduced multisensory integration efficiency. Notably, accuracy and drift rate in the audiovisual shift condition partially mediated the relation between TBI and FSIQ.



Children with mildRF+ or moderate/severe TBI are at risk for reduced multisensory integration efficiency, possibly contributing to decreased general neurocognitive functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record
Department of Clinical Neuropsychology.
Marsh
0000-0003-0200-0445
M
Königs
Department of Clinical Neuropsychology.
Wouter D
WD
Weeda
Pediatric Surgical Center of Amsterdam.
L W Ernest
LW
van Heurn
Department of Pediatric Neurology, VU University Medical Center.
R Jeroen
RJ
Vermeulen
Trauma Unit, Academic Medical Center.
J Carel
JC
Goslings
Department of Emergency Medicine, Academic Medical Center.
Jan S K
JS
Luitse
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Emma Children's Hospital Academic Medical Center.
Bwee Tien
BT
Poll-The
Merem Rehabilitation Center 'De Trappenberg'.
Anita
A
Beelen
Libra Rehabilitation Medicine and Audiology 'Blixembosch'.
Marleen
M
van der Wees
Libra Rehabilitation Medicine and Audiology 'Leijpark'.
Rachèl J J K
RJ
Kemps
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Erasmus Medical Center.
Coriene E
CE
Catsman-Berrevoets
Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, VU University Amsterdam.
Jaap
J
Oosterlaan
D000293:Adolescent; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data