EFFECTS OF EARLY BRAIN INJURY ON PERCEPTUAL-CONSTRUCTIVE PERFORMANCES IN ADULTS

A STUDY ON CEREBRALLY PALSIED SUBJECTS WITHOUT MENTAL RETARDATION BY MEANS OF A MARBLE BOARD TASK

Abstract

Several researchers have suggested that visual-motor defects observed in cerebrally palsied (CP) children are due to a developmental lag and thus may not persist into adult age. The aim of the present study was to investigate performances in a perceptual-constructive task—the copying of marble board patterns—in CP adults and controls. Thirty-three CP subjects and 18 controls, most of them with orthopedic handicaps, participated. The age range studied was 15 to 26 years. Only subjects with an IQ of at least 80 were included. Performances on four marble board patterns were reported. In the CP group the mean scores were significantly lower in regard to both the accuracy of the copies made and the procedure used. Speed was not considered in scoring and motor clumsiness did not influence the scores, as only intentional marble placings were recorded. Deficient performance in such marble board tasks may be due to disturbances of function in any link of the complicated sequence gnosia-cognition-praxia. It was concluded that the defects observed in CP subjects in perceptual-constructive tasks are not wholly reversible. Thus, they are neither solely due to a slower rate of maturation nor completely compensated for with increasing age.