Cognitive profile of Turner syndrome

Abstract

Turner syndrome (TS) is a relatively common neurogenetic disorder characterized by complete or partial monosomy-X in a phenotypic female. TS is associated with a cognitive profile that typically includes intact intellectual function and verbal abilities with relative weaknesses in visual–spatial, executive, and social cognitive domains. In this report, we review previous and current research related to the cognitive profile of TS. We also discuss how cognitive impairments in this syndrome may reflect integrative rather than modular deficits. For example, the less commonly reported areas of verbal difficulty in TS and certain visual–spatial deficits seem significantly influenced by impairments in executive function and spatially loaded stimuli. We provide a summary of cognitive testing measures used in the assessment of visual–spatial and executive skills, which includes test domain descriptions as well as a comprehensive examination of social cognitive function in TS. This review concludes with a discussion of ecological interpretations regarding the meaning of cognitive deficits in TS at the individual level. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2009;15:270–278.