Interhemispheric Communication in Down Syndrome

Abstract

Background: Within the domain of intellectual disability, evidence suggests a potential association with changes in the developmental pathways governing the maturation of interhemispheric communication mechanisms.

Subjects and method: Through this study, our objective was to identify potential anomalies in interhemispheric transfer among individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Specifically, we investigated whether a significant difference exists in interhemispheric communication efficiency between DS and control participants of similar chronological age. For our analysis, 11 participants with DS and 13 from the control group were evaluated. A fingertip cross-localization test was used to quantify the efficiency of interhemispheric information transfer.

Results: The data revealed a significantly reduced efficiency of interhemispheric communication in participants diagnosed with DS compared to the control group.

Conclusions: These findings suggest a potential dysfunction in the corpus callosum of DS individuals. It is plausible to suggest that this functional disconnection might influence the development of cognitive anomalies.

Keywords: Down syndrome - brain lateralization - corpus callosum - interhemispheric transfer.