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Visuospatial, Visuoperceptual, and Visuoconstructive Abilities in Congenital Hypothyroidism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2013

Nevena Simic ,
Sarah Khan  and
Joanne Rovet
Nevena Simic*
Affiliation:
Program in Neuroscience & Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Sarah Khan
Affiliation:
Program in Neuroscience & Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario
Joanne Rovet
Affiliation:
Program in Neuroscience & Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Nevena Simic, Neurosciences & Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. Canada, M5G 1×8. E-mail: nevena.simic@sickkids.ca
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Abstract

Individuals with congenital hypothyroidism (CH), even those diagnosed and treated early, experience selective cognitive deficits, the most striking of which involves the visuocognitive domain. However, the range and nature of their visuocognitive disturbances is not fully understood. We assessed a range of higher-order visuocognitive abilities in 19 children and adolescents with CH and 19 age- and sex-matched typically developing peers (TD) using a battery of neuropsychological tests and a novel self-report measure of sense of direction. CH scored lower than TD on direct tests of visuocognitive function (judging line orientation, parts-to-whole localization, copying three-dimensional block towers, discriminating designs, and matching unfamiliar faces in ¾ profile-view) as well as on self-reported problems in spatial ability. Visuocognitive problems were not global as CH and TD did not differ at copying two-dimensional block designs, mentally rotating and matching abstract shapes, or at matching unfamiliar front-view faces, design features, or designs that engaged either figure-ground segregation, visual constancy, or closure. Early and concurrent thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were associated with visuocognitive ability, although attention and working memory were not. Individuals with CH exhibit selective visuocognitive weaknesses, some of which are related to early and concurrent TSH levels. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–9)

Keywords

VisuospatialSense of directionCongenital hypothyroidismThyroid hormoneAttentionWorking memory
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 19 , Issue 10 , November 2013 , pp. 1119 - 1127
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2013 

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