Brain lesion localization and developmental functions

Brain Lesion Localization and Developmental Functions

This volume discusses the neural networks that process higher cognitive functions and behaviour patterns during the child's developmental period. It takes as its point of departure the work presented in the previous volume, which dealt with basal nuclei, connection Systems, cerebellum, and mirror neurons, and then focuses on the frontal lobes, the limbic (hippocampus and amygdala) and visuocognitive systems.

In the section on frontal lobes, the role of the mirror neurons' parieto-frontal system is explained, followed by a discussion of disorders such as epilepsy, frontal lobe trauma, learning difficulties, and a whole range of neuropsychiatric disturbances. The chapters dedicated to the limbic system look at the hippocampus in relation to memory, language difficulties and associated behavioural disorders (including problems of attachment), and at the role of amygdala in autism and relational deprivation. A final section is dedicated to visual and visuocognitive functioning in children with focal brain lesions, prematurity, and neurodevelopmental disorders.