Neuropsychological assessment of executive functions following pediatric traumatic brain injury.
Assessment of executive functions in the adult is best captured at the stage where full maturation of brain development occurs. Assessment of executive functions of children, however, is considerably more complicated. First, assessment of executive functioning in children represents a snapshot of these developing functions at a particular time linked stage, which may have implications for further development. Second, neuropsychological measures available to assess executive functions in children are limited in number and scope and may not be sensitive to the gradual developmental changes. The present article provides an overview of the salient neurodevelopmental stages of executive functioning and discusses the utilization of recently developed neuropsychological measures to assess these stages. Comments on clinical implications of these findings regarding Traumatic Brain Injury will be provided.
a Veterans Affairs of Greater Los Angeles Nuclear Medicine; Department of Pediatrics , University of California , Los Angeles , California , USA.
K Drorit
KD
Gaines
b Clinical Psychology, Fielding Graduate University , Santa Barbara , California , USA.
Henry V
HV
Soper
D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
Concussion; development; executive; neuropsychology; pediatric