BALANCED GROWTH: The Involvement of the Vestibular System in a Child's Cognitive and Motor Development

When a vestibular dysfunction occurs at birth or in early stages of life, one might expect that this may have an enormous impact on a child's development. It is known that a severe congenital or early acquired vestibular deficit in children results in delayed psychomotor milestones. Later in life, children with a vestibular dysfunction may have difficulties with several balance tasks and additional cognitive, motor and/or psychosocial performances. While a few authors have suggested that there is indeed an influence of a vestibular dysfunction upon these different developmental domains (cognitive, motor, educational and psychosocial development), which can be supported by findings in clinical practice as well, literature concerning this topic remains fairly limited. On the other hand, several studies have shown that children with known difficulties in motor and/or cognitive functions have more difficulties in vestibular performances in comparison with their unaffected peers. Although more frequently discussed, the literature on this population is rather scarce too. Therefore, the current project aims to investigate the relationship with and the involvement of the vestibular system in the motor and cognitive development of school-aged children.