Brief report: cognitive correlates of enlarged head
circumference in children with autism.
Deutsch CK, Joseph RM.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School,
Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
This study examined the frequency and cognitive correlates of enlarged head
circumference in a sample of 63 children with autism between the ages of 4 and
14. Consistent with prior evidence, macrocephaly occurred at a significantly
higher frequency than in a normal reference sample. Head circumference was not
associated with language or executive functioning, nor was it related to verbal
or nonverbal IQ. Head circumference was, however, correlated with discrepancies
between verbal and nonverbal IQ scores, independent of absolute level of verbal
ability. Children with discrepantly high nonverbal abilities had a mean
standardized head circumference that was more than 1 SD greater than in the
reference sample, and that was significantly greater than in autistic children
with a relative verbal advantage or no discrepancy in cognitive abilities, for
whom mean head circumference was within normal limits. This convergence of
physical and cognitive features suggests a possible etiologically significant
subtype of autism.
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