Solovieva Yu., Rojas L.Q. (2017). Syndromic analysis in child neuropsychology: A case study. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 10 (4), 172-184
Background. Neuropsychology is a science with its own specific concepts, terms, and methods of analysis of disturbances in psychological development. One of the essential concepts of neuropsychological methodology, according to A.R. Luria, is that of a neuropsychological syndrome, which takes into account both the functional organization of the brain and the behavioral system. However, this concept isn’t mentioned in the majority of his publications, and thus is not well known by neuropsychologists. There is no clear understanding of this concept within the works of modern neuropsychologists. This omission has a strong influence on the way analysis and interpretation of developmental difficulties is carried out today.
Objective. The objective of this study is to present an example of the successful application of qualitative syndromic analysis to the case of a Mexican preschool child with developmental problems and learning disabilities.
Design. The clinical analysis was applied to the case of a 6 year old girl with learning disabilities, whose difficulties had been attributed primarily to a low level of general brain activation.
Results. The authors assert that the advantages of A.R. Luria’s syndromic approach to clinical cases of difficulties in development and learning disabilities, are that it opens up the potential for finding the general causes on different levels: neuronal maturation, brain mechanisms, activity and personality.
Conclusion. The authors conclude that the topic of syndromic analysis in child neuropsychology requires further scientific discussion. The necessity for revising levels of analysis of clinical cases should be taken in account.
Keywords: neuropsychological syndrome, child neuropsychology, assessment of development, qualitative assessment, Luria’s approach, developmental problems, subcortical levels