Working memory and mental imagery in Cerebral Palsy: A single case investigation

Abstract

In this study we describe visuospatial working memory and visual mental imagery of a child with Cerebral Palsy. Beyond a moderate impairment of visuomotor integration skills, cognitive level and memory span, poor performance emerged in figures reconstruction, in memorizing matrix patterns and movements along a path. No such deficits were observed in recalling figures and their positions on a grid and learning groups of words using a visual imagery strategy. This case highlights that impaired action execution impairs performance in imagery tasks as well, but not when alternative strategies (e.g., verbal encoding) can be adopted. Results are discussed considering recent evidence on working memory and visual imagery links, and their role in motor rehabilitation training.

Keywords:

• Cerebral Palsy (CP)
• Visuospatial working memory
• Visual imagery
• Motor rehabilitation training
• Dorsal stream vulnerability

Acknowledgments

We thank EC and his family for participating in the study. The research leading to these results was partially funded by the European's Community Seventh Framework Programme under the grant agreement no. PERG02-GA-2007-224919 to Laura Barca.