Emotional-Behavioral Patterns in Children with Learning Disabilities Lateralized Hemispheric Differences

The relationships between lateralized left and right hemisphere cognitive impairments and various emotional/behavioral characteristics were examined retrospectively in 67 learning disabled children ages 7 to 10. Children with left hemisphere impaired cognitive profiles presented with dysphoria, anxiety, and social withdrawal, while children with right hemisphere impaired cognitive profiles showed low rates of dysphoria/anxiety and increased somatic complaints. Children with nonlateralized cognitive impairments evidenced characteristics of attention deficit disorder and more pervasive emotional disturbances. These relationships between lateralized cognitive impairments and emotional/behavioral patterns in non-neurologically involved learning disabled children parallel findings of emotional disturbance in adults with lateralized hemispheric lesions.