Brain Lesion Localization and Developmental Functions

Advances in the neurocognitive sciences, aided by increased imaging power,
have extensively confirmed that during early development specific areas of a
child's brain are designed to process specific functions - neurologic,
cognitive, linguistic, motoric, and visuospatial, among others - and that this
processing involves globally complex interconnections with other areas
distributed throughout the brain: a lesion in a given area interferes with the
functioning and coherence of the system as a whole.

This volume discusses the consequences of early brain injury to many parts of
the brain, including the basal ganglia, with their related disorders of
aphasia, OCD, and AD/HD, as well as white matter and its associated
neuropsychological impairment of intelligence, language, and visuoperception.
The corpus callosum and cerebellum are studied as they relate to learning
motor sequences and language as well as communication disorders and social
behavior.

This book also looks at mirror neurons as they affect the understanding of
others' intentions and the development of empathy and gestural and other forms
of language. The implications of these findings are examined since they have a
critical effect on the rehabilitative and educational efforts that are being
designed to mitigate the effects of early brain lesions on the growing child.