Decreased activation and increased lateralization in brain functioning for selective attention and response inhibition in adolescents with spina bifida.

Ou X, Snow JH, Byerley AK, Hall JJ, Glasier CM. (2011) Decreased activation and increased lateralization in brain functioning for selective attention and response inhibition in adolescents with spina bifida. Child Neuropsychol. 2011 Dec 6.


We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate functional activity in the brain of adolescents with spina bifida when performing selective attention and response inhibition tasks. We then compared the results to that of age-matched controls. Our results showed that adolescents with spina bifida had decreased frontal and superior parietal activation and more apparently low involvement of left brain hemisphere during these tasks. Our results indicated activation deficits and possibly abnormal functional organization in adolescents with spina bifida and associated pathologies such as hydrocephalus.


PMID: 22145814