Verbal Fluency and Semantic Association Deficits in Children with Upper Limb Motor Disorders

The current study aimed to compare differences in the verbal fluency, action/verbal naming and semantic association development of children with variable degree of limb motor disorders vs. healthy controls. The study involved 68 children from 7 to 15 years old; 36 children with Obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPL) (N=22) and amyoplasia (N=14) and 32 healthy children. OBPP and amyoplasia, the classical type of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, manifest themselves as highly limited mobility of the upper limb. Children with motor impairments performed significantly worse on fluency and semantic association tasks compared to the control group. We further observed that children with movement disorders of one upper limb completed the semantic association task better than children with movement disorders involving more than one limb. These results add to evidence suggesting that the development of speech and executive functions, with which verbal fluency is associated, depends on the normal development of motor skills, and a delay in the development of motor skills affects these functions. Our results suggest that evaluation of linguistic function is an important screening tool for cognitive deficits in children with motor disabilities for use in the context of rehabilitation programs.