Objective
To investigate the findings of patients with autism or mental retardation shown in ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS) and the correlation between findings in ¹H MRS and degree of language developmental delay. Method: ¹H MRS was performed in thirty five patients with autism or mental retardation. [N-Acetylaspartate (NAA)/ Creatine (Cr)], [Choline (Cho)/Cr], and [Myoinositol (mI)/ Cr] were measured and compared with those of control group. Also the correlation between ¹H MRS findings and the degree of language developmental delay was investigated. Results: Increased [Cho/Cr] was shown in parietal white matter and frontal gray matter in patients with autism and mental retardation. No significant differences were revealed in any metabolite ratio between mental retardation and autism. There were no significant correlations between the degree of language developmental delay and metabolite ratios. Conclusion: Myelin degeneration in parietal white matter and fronal gray matter could be related to autism and mental retardation. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2006; 30: 322- 327)

Objective
This study is to investigate the prognosis of functional ambulation in each type of cerebral palsy (CP). Method: Medical records of 385 patients were retrospectively reviewed that visited outpatients department and were diagnosed as CP. Various information was surveyed including CP type, gestational age at birth, birth weight and associated problems such as mental retardation and seizure and gross motor functional status such as ambulational status and Gross Motor Functional Classification System (GMFCS). All of them were compared between each type. The influences of seizure and mental retardation on gross motor function were also investigated. Results: Functional ambulation was achieved in 58.2% in overall. Inspecting in each type, 93.7% of spastic hemiplegia, 67.6% of spastic diplegia, 12.2% of spastic quadriplegia, 78.7% of dyskinetic type can ambulate functionally. Birth weight or gestational age had no independent influences on ambulation within each type. Seizure influenced negatively on ambulation of diplegic CPs with significance and mental retardation in diplegic CPs and quadriplegic CPs than any other type. Conclusion: Over the half of CP patients achieved functional ambulation. Hemiplegia and diplegia had good prognosis among all types. Seizure and mental retardation negatively affected ambulation function of CP patients, especially in diplegic CPs and quadriplegic CPs. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2006; 30: 315-321)

Mental retardation is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and adaptive skills, which originates before the age of 18. The prevalence of mental retardation among elementary school children in Korea is estimated as 9∼12/1,000. In most cases of mental retardation, the interplay of genetic and environmental influences remains poorly understood. However, recent ad-vances in molecular genetic techniques have enabled us to understand more about the molecular basis of several genetic syndromes associated with mental retardation. This article presents a review of three common genetic conditions causing mental retardation-Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, and Prader-Willi syndrome-with the summary of the effectiveness of early intervention for the children with mental retardation. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2006; 30: 103-110)

Objective
To determine the diagnosis and investigate the clinical features of children with language delay. Method: One hundred seventy-eight children who were referred to the Developmental Delay Clinic for the evaluation of suspected language delay were prospectively enrolled. Multidisciplinary assessment was done by a physiatrist, pediatric neurologist and pediatric psychiatrist. All patients took speech evaluation, full battery of cognitive assessment and hearing test. Results: The common diagnoses of children with language delay were mental retardation (MR), specific language impairment (SLI) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the order of frequency. The early developmental history showed delay of acquisition of motor milestone in MR group. The brain magnetic resonance image (MRI) and single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) findings couldn't help to distinguish the brain pathology in SLI, MR and ASD. The result of speech evaluation showed more severely involved in ASD and MR rather than SLI. Conclusion: In the clinical assesment and management of the children with language delay, the comprehensive assessment which includes cognition and personal-social area as well as language itself would be helpful for the understanding and setting up the therapeutic plan of these children. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2005; 29: 584-590)