Cognition, behavior, and development in Joubert syndrome

This article reports on a series of studies of children with Joubert syndrome who were examined in three investigations from 1994 through 1998. Neuropsychologic screening of 10 of 40 children showed a variety of deficits in cognition, verbal memory, visuomotor, motor, and language-related tasks. Parent report of developmental attainments revealed only 3 of 40 children functioning in the borderline range, with the rest scoring in the severely impaired range. Parent reports of behaviors revealed problems in temperament, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and dependency, as well as problems in physical development and care that were felt to be related to their neurologic handicaps. Future directions of research with this rare disorder are suggested.