Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases
IntroductionThe relationship between motor and cognitive skills is a pivotal issue in neuroscience, with embodied cognition theory asserting that bodily actions and experiences play a vital role in cognitive processing. This relevance is particularly noted in children with severe motor disorders (MD...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| author | Maria Koriakina Maria Koriakina Olga E. Agranovich Ioannis Ntoumanis Maxim Ulanov Isak B. Blank Anna Shestakova Evgeny Blagovechtchenski |
| author_facet | Maria Koriakina Maria Koriakina Olga E. Agranovich Ioannis Ntoumanis Maxim Ulanov Isak B. Blank Anna Shestakova Evgeny Blagovechtchenski |
| author_sort | Maria Koriakina |
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| description | IntroductionThe relationship between motor and cognitive skills is a pivotal issue in neuroscience, with embodied cognition theory asserting that bodily actions and experiences play a vital role in cognitive processing. This relevance is particularly noted in children with severe motor disorders (MD) from birth, highlighting a need to explore how these disorders may impede cognitive functions.MethodsIn this study, we assessed verbal fluency, a critical component of speech function, in 68 children aged 7 to 15. This group consisted of 36 children with motor disorders, specifically those diagnosed with obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP, n = 22) or arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC, n = 14), and 32 healthy control children. We compared levels of verbal fluency, action/verbal naming, and the development of semantic associations between the two groups.ResultsThe findings revealed that children with motor impairments exhibited significantly lower performance in tasks measuring verbal fluency and semantic association compared to the control group. Mainly, MD children produced fewer words during verbal fluency tasks and demonstrated reduced semantic associations. Interestingly, MD children with unilateral limb impairment outperformed those with bilateral impairment on semantic association tasks.DiscussionThese results suggest that the cognitive deficits observed in children with motor impairments can be attributed to less engagement with their physical environment, which influences their ability to perceive and manipulate objects differently based on their level of impairment. Additionally, the findings underscore how social and cultural contexts may be affected by motor impairments. Overall, our study supports the concept of embodied cognition, demonstrating that delays in motor skill development among children with OBPP and AMC can harm their cognitive functions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b9ac0fe1d9a847da8844062364f1c27f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-b9ac0fe1d9a847da8844062364f1c27f2025-02-06T16:56:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612025-02-011910.3389/fnhum.2025.14995211499521Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseasesMaria Koriakina0Maria Koriakina1Olga E. Agranovich2Ioannis Ntoumanis3Maxim Ulanov4Isak B. Blank5Anna Shestakova6Evgeny Blagovechtchenski7Affective Psychophysiology Laboratory, Institute of Health Psychology, HSE University, Moscow, RussiaCentre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, RussiaH.Turner National Medical Research Center for Children’s Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, St. Petersburg, RussiaCentre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, RussiaCentre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, RussiaCentre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, RussiaCentre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, RussiaAffective Psychophysiology Laboratory, Institute of Health Psychology, HSE University, Moscow, RussiaIntroductionThe relationship between motor and cognitive skills is a pivotal issue in neuroscience, with embodied cognition theory asserting that bodily actions and experiences play a vital role in cognitive processing. This relevance is particularly noted in children with severe motor disorders (MD) from birth, highlighting a need to explore how these disorders may impede cognitive functions.MethodsIn this study, we assessed verbal fluency, a critical component of speech function, in 68 children aged 7 to 15. This group consisted of 36 children with motor disorders, specifically those diagnosed with obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP, n = 22) or arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC, n = 14), and 32 healthy control children. We compared levels of verbal fluency, action/verbal naming, and the development of semantic associations between the two groups.ResultsThe findings revealed that children with motor impairments exhibited significantly lower performance in tasks measuring verbal fluency and semantic association compared to the control group. Mainly, MD children produced fewer words during verbal fluency tasks and demonstrated reduced semantic associations. Interestingly, MD children with unilateral limb impairment outperformed those with bilateral impairment on semantic association tasks.DiscussionThese results suggest that the cognitive deficits observed in children with motor impairments can be attributed to less engagement with their physical environment, which influences their ability to perceive and manipulate objects differently based on their level of impairment. Additionally, the findings underscore how social and cultural contexts may be affected by motor impairments. Overall, our study supports the concept of embodied cognition, demonstrating that delays in motor skill development among children with OBPP and AMC can harm their cognitive functions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1499521/fullmotor skillscognitive skillsmotor disorderssemantic associationverbal fluencyembodiment cognition |
| spellingShingle | Maria Koriakina Maria Koriakina Olga E. Agranovich Ioannis Ntoumanis Maxim Ulanov Isak B. Blank Anna Shestakova Evgeny Blagovechtchenski Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases Frontiers in Human Neuroscience motor skills cognitive skills motor disorders semantic association verbal fluency embodiment cognition |
| title | Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases |
| title_full | Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases |
| title_fullStr | Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases |
| title_full_unstemmed | Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases |
| title_short | Verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases |
| title_sort | verbal fluency and semantic association deficits in children with in birth nonprogressive neuromuscular diseases |
| topic | motor skills cognitive skills motor disorders semantic association verbal fluency embodiment cognition |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1499521/full |
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