Examining the frontal subcortical brain vulnerability hypothesis in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: are T2-weighted hyperintensities related to executive dysfunction?

Abstract : It was hypothesized that neuropsychological impairments in children with neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) are associated with brain areas of increased T2-weighted signal intensity on MRI. Systematic and extensive examination of this hypothesis remains however scarce, particularly regarding executive dysfunction whereas hyperintensities are located preferentially in frontal-sub-cortical networks. In this study, we compared the executive functioning profile with characteristics of brain hyperintensities in children with NF1.