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Handbook of Neuropsychology, Vol. 7, F. Boller, J. Grafman.

Elsevier, Amsterdam (1992)

Article in Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology · January 1996

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 Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Vol. 11, No. 8, pp. 713-715, 1996
Copyright 9 1996 National Academy of Neuropsychology
Pergamon Printed in the USA. All rights reserved
0887-6177/96 $15.00 + .00

PII S0887-6177(96)00009-1

Book and Test Reviews

Arthur MacNeill Horton, Jr., Associate Editor

Psych Associates, Towson, MD

Handbook ofNeuropsychology (Vol. 7). Boiler, E and Grafman, J. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1992.

Volumes 6 and 7 in the Handbook of Neuropsychology series are organized to present a

panoramic overview of key issues and recent developments in pediatric neuropsychology.
The current volume continues the organizational model of its predecessor, so that discussions
of clinical syndromes are preceded and complemented by companion chapters on normal
maturational trends. The continuum of normal and abnormal development is illustrated and
emphasized to clarify the premise that clinical syndromes are manifestations of specific types
of developmental arrest or failure. The developmental model also provides a conceptual link
between experimental and clinical studies of normal and abnormal development. This volume
is divided into seven topical categories which cover normal and abnormal developmental
trends and syndrome analyses of visual, auditory, linguistic, academic, memorial, attentional,
affective, psychotic, and convulsive disorders that occur during the developmental period.
The presentation on visual perception integrates evidence from normal developmental
trends, clinical syndrome analyses in children and adults, and case study material. The func-
tional organization of specific visual system components and the syndromes that result
when they are lesioned are remarkably similar in adults and children. Plasticity of the devel-
oping nervous system is shown to be limited, particularly with regard to compensation for
specific visual functions. Diagnostic and therapeutic models and psychometric tests that
have been developed for the assessment of cognitive development and achievement of visu-
ally impaired children are discussed and critically evaluated. Experimental studies that
focus on the specific syndrome, clinical course, and severity of visual disturbance are need-
ed to individualize diagnostic and treatment programs for individual children. The reorgani-
zation of cognitive functional systems after the onset of visual impairment during childhood
also remains to be clarified.
The analysis of central auditory function provides definitive discussions of modular
functional neuroanatomy, methods for behavioral and electrophysiological analysis of cen-
tral auditory function at each processing level, and case examples of syndromes that occur
with modular auditory processing breakdown. Recommendations for management of central
auditory deficit in children with specific degrees and syndromes of auditory dysfunction are
presented as general guidelines. The importance of early diagnosis and intervention in chil-
dren with central auditory disorders is emphasized.
The complementary chapter on the cognitive development of deaf children shows that sim-
ilar early, nonlinguistic cognitive developmental trends occur among deaf and hearing children

7/3
714 Book and Test Reviews

on Piagetian tasks. Congenitally deaf children in particular typically show severe deficit and
developmental delay in verbal but not nonverbal cognitive measures. Linguistic stimulation
and learning are shown to be vital to normal cognitive development. Development of commu-
niucation ability through mastery of spoken or signed language during the key developmental
period is emphasized as critical to normal verbal cognitive development.
The chapter by Bates and associates on development of the neural substrate of language
is exceptionally rigorous and thorough. Traditional neuroanatomical and linguistic models of
aphasia are shown to be insufficient to explain the variety and pattern of empirically demon-
strated deficits in adult and pediatric aphasic syndromes. Use of these models as guidelines
for the study of developmental language processes is therefore bypassed. These models still
are widely cited in the contemporary adult clinical litature, however, and they are not recog-
nized as obsolete by most clinicians. Bates and her colleagues alternatively integrate a
wealth of information from neuroanatomic, metabolic, and linguistic levels of analysis to
build a general, critical period maturational model for the emergence of classes of linguistic
skills at specific developmental stages. Detailed, integrative tabular, and narrative sum-
maries of their developmental linguistic model highlight and integrate the discussion.
Related presentations discuss syndromes of delayed language disorder (DLD) or dys-
phasia, pediatric aphasia, developmental dyslexia and related syndromes, and developmen-
tal dyscalculia. The DLD syndromes are analyzed by comparisons of diagnostic criteria,
prevalence, etiology, and subtype analysis. Associated DLD neurobehavioral deficits in
perception, attention, memory, and executive function are specified. Analysis of the pedi-
atric aphasic syndromes highlights their anatomical correlates and modular linguistic
deficit patterns.
Neuroanatomical and neurobehavioral syndrome-oriented models of the developmental
reading and calculation disorder syndromes currently appear to be at a preliminary and
descriptive level of development. Theoretical models of these classes of disorders are evolv-
ing, but currently there are not rigorous, general, empirically-based theories of normal read-
ing development or reading disability syndrome analysis. Available methods for remediation
of dyslexia and related disorders also are primarily exploratory.
A cognitive-contextual model of memory is presented to place learning and memory in
the more general context of cognitive processing. The competing experimental models of
memory that currently are in vogue are presented clearly and summarily. Examples and
illustrations are given that clarify the practical applications of the model that emphasize
overarching and integrative themes. Pedantic detail is eliminated and the presentation is
beautifully clear. A complementary chapter on amnesic syndromes is similarly lucid,
detailed, and instructive. But it is much more than a discussion of amnesic syndromes; it
also presents a well integrated, modular model of memorial processing that multiply classi-
fies memorial function by normal retrieval modality, by modality of amnesic impairment,
and by stage of memory consolidation.
Developmental trends in normal attentional processing are analyzed at neuroanatomical,
neurochemical, sensorimotor, cognitive, and metacognitive levels from infancy through
adolescence in the excellent chapter by Kinsbourne. He highlights essential trends that
underlie the neurologic basis of hierarchically organized perceptual-motor development.
Those maturational processes, in turn, make possible the development of cue-focused atten-
tion and the gradual progression from stimulus-bound perception to self-aware, metacogni-
tive problem solving. Kinsbourne also provides a brief discussion of the breakdown of
attentional processes in the clinical syndromes of autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD).
A complementary chapter describes the primary symptoms, diagnostic criteria, etiology,
course, and prognosis of ADHD and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) without hyperactivi-
 Book and TestReviews 715

ty. The analyses range widely over neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neuropsycho-
logical conceptualizations of the disorder. Pharmacologic, educational, behavioral, self-reg-
ulatory, and combined treatment approaches are summarized and evaluated. The efficacy of
various treatment approaches on specific outcome measures is highlighted. Clearly this is
an evolving research and clinical treatment area, but there is encouraging evidence that the-
oretical models are becoming more consistent and that treatment methods do show signifi-
cant efficacy.
Frontal lobe function and developmental dysfunction are reviewed anatomically, devel-
opmentally, and neurobehaviorally in a separate chapter. The comparative and developmen-
tal analyses contrast normal and clinical frontal lobe subsystem findings in animals and in
human adults and children. Whereas cross-species developmental trends help one to under-
stand human development, comparison of problem-solving processes in children and adults
is thought to be of limited developmental explanatory value. Different cognitive processes
may account for similar test results, and different neural functional systems may mediate the
same behavior pattern at different ages.
The volume concludes with a series of six chapters that address developmental neurobe-
havioral clinical syndromes. Developmental disorders presented include mood, affect,
appetite, substance abuse, autism, childhood schizophrenia, and pediatric seizure disorder
syndromes. These multidisciplinary analyses present a rich source of working hypotheses
about the neurobiological, cognitive, diagnostic, syndrome analytic, and (where available)
therapeutic approaches to these disorders.
Volumes 6 and 7 of the Handbook of Neuropsychology provide a panoramic overview of
the current state of factual and theoretical knowledge in developmental neuropsychology.
The presentations are consistently lucid, terse, scholarly, and extensively referenced to the
recent literature. Specialists in experimental cognitive and clinical developmental neuropsy-
chology will find much of value that will increase their level of general knowledge of the
field as well as their specific area of interest. Specialists in adult neuropsychology also will
be richly rewarded by careful study of the normal and abnormal neurobehavioral develop-
mental trends that are analyzed in these volumes. Attention to recommendations for experi-
mental control that occur throughout the volume also are essential to the conduct of rigorous
research and the evaluation of research findings. The authors and editors have provided a
great service for pediatric neuropsychologists and professionals in related fields by produc-
ing these landmark reference volumes. We suggest that a future volume in the series might
consider issues in geriatric neuropsychology so that the series will provide complete lifes-
pan coverage.

James A. Moses, Jr., Ph.D.

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University School of Medicine
Coordinator
Psychological Assessment Unit (116B)
Palo Alto Veterans Administration Health Care System
3801 Miranda Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1207

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