Executive control of learning and memory was examined in children with
bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (SCP). We hypothesized that SCP-related
brain damage would disrupt executive but not associative aspects of
learning and memory. To test this hypothesis, the California Verbal
Learning Test–Children's Version was administered to 16
children with bilateral SCP and 19 control children ranging from 6 to 18
years of age. Controlling for general verbal ability, the groups did not
differ in initial learning and retention of information over time,
suggesting that associative learning and memory processes subserved by
medial temporal brain regions were relatively intact in children with SCP.
In contrast, impairments in learning over repeated trials, strategic
processing, and inhibition in the SCP group pointed to disruptions in
prefrontally-mediated executive aspects of learning and memory. The
inhibitory deficit was more pronounced in younger children with SCP,
suggesting a developmental delay in this ability. (JINS, 2005,
11, 920–924.)