Forspá og framheili

Abstract

Verkefni, sem rannsóknir benda til að meti fyrstu merki um starfsemi framheilans, eru borin saman við ungbarnapróf, sem talin eru spá vel fyrir um þróun vitsmunastarfs. Sú tilgáta er sett fram að forspárgildi ungbarnaprófa fari eftir því að hvaða marki þau meta starfsemi framheilans. Lýst er dæmi þar sem mat á starfsemi framheila hafði forspá um möguleika fatlaðs unglings til að njóta góðs af starfsþjálfun.

This review compares attempts to assess early signs of prefrontal functioning and the search for infant tests with good predictive validity. It is pointed out that these two lines of research have in fact used the same tasks (object search and object retrieval) to assess similar behavioral manifestations and the same underlying prefrontal traits and processes of the developing central nervous system. The thesis of the paper is that the predictive power of the early developmental scales is essentially dependent on their ability to assess prefrontal functioning. Re¬search is needed to study more closely the relation¬ship between prefrontal functioning and predictive validity in infancy and childhood. An example is provided regarding the role of prefrontal assessment in the counselling of adolescents with congenital handicaps.