Author Identifier (ORCID)
Belinda A. McLean: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5456-8695
Abstract
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) are at increased risk of impaired somatosensation and cognition. Among children with hemiplegia, approximately three-quarters have impaired somatosensation and one-third have intellectual impairment. While somatosensation may relate to cognitive functioning in CP, this relationship has not previously been investigated. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between somatosensation and cognition in children with hemiplegic CP, and whether the pattern of brain injury, classified using an established MRI classification system, moderates this relationship. Forty-seven children (26 females) with hemiplegic CP participated (mean age = 11.0 years; SD = 3.6; range: 6–16 years). Parent questionnaires provided demographic, educational, and medical history. Cognition was assessed using Index scores from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V). Somatosensation in the affected and less-affected hands was measured using subtests from Sense©_Assess Kids. Wrist position sense and haptic ability of the affected hand significantly correlated with most WISC-V Index scores. Somatosensory functioning of the less-affected hand showed inconsistent associations with cognition. Multiple regressions indicated that wrist position sense of the affected hand predicted visuospatial ability, fluid reasoning, and overall intelligence. Haptic ability of the affected hand predicted verbal comprehension and overall intelligence. For the less-affected hand, wrist position sense predicted visuospatial ability, but haptic ability did not predict any cognitive outcomes. Multicategorical moderation showed that the pattern of brain injury did not consistently moderate somatosensation-cognition relationships. Identifying somatosensory difficulties may provide early insight into cognitive performance in children with hemiplegic CP. Further research is needed to understand the direction and mechanisms of this relationship.
Keywords
Cerebral palsy, Cognition, hemiplegia, neuropsychological assessment, somatosensation
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
PubMed ID
41634536
Publication Title
Child Neuropsychology
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
91656
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Hewitt, K. M., Bayliss, D. M., McLean, B. A., Thornton, A. L., & Moyle, J. J. (2026). Examining links between somatosensation and cognition in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Child Neuropsychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2026.2621691